When my second son was born and they lay him in my arms, I felt a cloud of foreboding that something was wrong. He had the appropriate number of toes and fingers but still the sense that all was not well persisted. I never told anyone and prayed that the feeling would go away.

He was tested in Kindergarten for learning disabilities. We had already done speech, occupational and physical therapies, but still his ability to learn was not on par with other kids his age. The Doctors told us that his IQ was below average and he would probably never learn beyond about a 5^th grade level.

Although we never believed the IQ test results, one of my greatest concerns was how do we teach our son what it means to accept Jesus into your heart. Does God just take children who don’t have the ability to understand? One day when he was 7 we were listening to Christian radio on the way to school. Ethel Sexton did a small spot on the radio at that time. She usually told a funny story that had a moral. This day she asked if you were pretending to know Jesus. My son asked if he knew Jesus. I told him the only way to know for sure is to ask. He wanted to stop right there in the parking lot. He got on his knees in the car and prayed to receive Jesus. My thin place was realizing that God does indeed see, hear and know all of our needs