He’s Never Late – Always on Time

For a variety of reasons, I found that we’d be needing some alternative avenues for therapy.  Nothing has gone wrong, nothing is really problematic – just remember that I don’t always share everything on here.  Anyway, I realized we’d be needing some new options for therapy.  The place we’ve been going is nearly 45 minutes away, one way, and it’s been quite a trek two times a week.  But it filled a need, in a great way, and I’m thankful for that.  With what we’re needing now, though, I didn’t want to think of adding more time driving so far away, especially with trying to homeschool 3 kids this year and keep up with everyone’s needs – including my own need for some rest from time to time!  But, I don’t like to send our kid to just any therapist, or just any doctor.  Probably very much like you, I try to research our options and make a wise choice.  The problem is, I knew of no options.  Sure, I could search online and probably find some very local places.  However, I really was hoping that there would be some clear direction, but none was coming.  

Because our need for some new therapy options will be run through the school (IEPs, etc.) there is literally nothing I can do about it until school starts on the 27th.  And most likely, it won’t even be on the 27th because one kid has therapy, one kid has a doctor appointment, and it’s the first day of school.  So on Sunday I determined that I really wasn’t going to worry about it, and I joked that I had 2 weeks to practice NOT worrying about it.  

Yesterday, I took Picasso back to the pediatrician for his weight and BMI re-check.  He’s gained a few pounds and while he’s still on the same growth, height and BMI line, he hasn’t dropped at all on the growth charts, so she said he seems to be doing fine and we don’t need to come back until next May for his next well-visit.  Last year we had to go to the pediatrician 3 or 4 times, just for him, plus a few additional times for our other kids.  She was checking him pretty regularly to make sure he was growing well and doing ok with all of his therapies.  Two years ago, we were there 4-6 times, just for his check-ups.  So the fact that she said we don’t have to go back until May, unless there’s a problem, is HUGE news for us!  He’s very healthy!

Then I mentioned to her that we would be needing some alternatives for therapies.  She asked what kinds of therapies and interventions we needed, and so I listed them all for her.  She mentioned that she takes her own son to a particular speech/language pathologist in a nearby town, just 10 minutes from home!  She wrote down the name of that therapist for me, and I made a mental note to do my homework and call the office to talk to them. 

We were set to go, and headed out to the waiting room.  Picasso went to pick a couple of stickers, otherwise we would have missed what happened next.  I was going to tell him to just skip the stickers so we could get going because we still had to run to the grocery store for a quick trip, and then home to drop off the groceries, and I had to be to work by 11am.  But, I let him get a few stickers.  Suddenly, I heard someone calling his name, with a sense of urgency.  I turned around and there was the doctor, with a huge smile.  I couldn’t imagine what might happen next.

The speech/language pathologist she was recommending was THERE.  IN THE WAITING ROOM.  Bringing her new baby for a check-up.  Of course she was, because that’s how God works these things out sometimes! The doctor introduced us and then ran back to her next patient, and I chatted with this lady for just a moment.  I explained about the testing we’ll need and the subsequent therapies.  She said they do some of what we need there at her office.  They do speech/language and social skills.  They do not do Occupational Therapy, but that’s ok.  She gave me their website so I could look them up. 

Then she asked what school we go to.  I said I homeschool the boys and that we use PAVirtual Charter School.  Guess what?  The boys’ school has a contract with the place where she works.  Of course they do – because that’s how God works things out sometimes!  So what that means is that when school starts and we’re discussing therapy options, I can request that things get handled through that particular office.  Amazing! 

This morning, I didn’t want to go to the pediatrician.  I’m exhausted from a full week of work, church things, getting ready for the new school year, etc.  But I knew it was the right thing to do.  I don’t miss appointments for the kids, and I don’t mess around where their health and well-being are concerned.  And because I went, the questions that I was seeking answers for yesterday – just yesterday!! – God provided answers for today.  Not all the answers, but some.  Enough to make me feel like I had a direction to go – that I was making at least a somewhat-informed choice on where my child may go to therapy. 

Now – this same favorite pediatrician has always said to me that Picasso is just tall and skinny; that he’s stayed on the same growth lines most of his life.  This was the first time in 8 years that his BMI has been affected enough to warrant a weight check a few months later.  And that weight check was one week after we learned we’d need some different therapy options.  It would have been enough for the doctor to just hand me a slip of paper and say, “Try this therapist.”  I would have done that, and I probably would have been fine with that.

But God put me IN the office, with the right pediatrician who could give me a great recommendation for a therapist – AND put the therapist in the office.  He shut my mouth when I wanted to hurry Picasso away from the stickers, so that I could be there when the doctor came running out to the waiting room, to tell us the therapist was there.  God, in His wisdom, had the therapist ask ME where the boys go to school and had her tell me that they have a contract with our school – I wouldn’t have thought to ask that, but it’s important that I know that. 

This was a good day – one that I will tuck away to remember on those days when I feel like I’m spinning my wheels, or I’m wondering what the next step is.  We don’t always know when the answers will come, and we don’t always know when God will show up – but this one thing I do know:  He is never late!