One Lost Sheep

Last year, I had an experience that was so very moving.
I had a student that basically had a "melt-down." This sweet child was overwhelmed by the circumstance and the desire to do things correctly that focus was lost. When broached with this type of situation, our kids have the same type of PHYSICAL reaction that you or I would have when being attacked by a vicious dog, FLIGHT OR FIGHT.....
This student flew.
The more upset the student became, the further and faster the student ran.
All I kept hearing in my brain was...
"He left the 99 sheep of the flock and went after the one." I had approximately 90 other students waiting for me. That's close enough to 99. Yet, the Scripture kept running through my mind......over and over again...as the student ran in fear.

In Scripture, we read that the Good Shepherd left the flock to follow after the 1 lost sheep....
and when he returned to the flock, he did not chastise the lost sheep, but he carried it lovingly on his shoulders...rejoicing in the fact that the sheep had been found. I rejoiced when this lost sheep returned.

In that same scripture, we hear about the prodigal son. This particular passage was a challenge to me when I was growing up. Was I the son that left? Was I the son that stayed? Was I the father that welcomed the son home? Finally, I came to the conclusion that we all spend time in each roll...and so do our Aspie kids.

At times, our Aspie kids are lost sheep...running....flying in fear from that which they do not understand or that which is overwhelming.
At times, our Aspie kids are the son that stayed. And just as the devoted son in the story, they have difficulty understanding that we receive those who have transgressed without condition.
At times, our Aspie kids venture out, as the prodigal son did...expressing their own identity, their own ideas. Is that not what we TRULY WANT for our Aspie kids? That they get to the point where they can BE for themselves? Yet, we MUST be there...welcoming them back without judgment when they fall and fail....and then fly back to us. The father, just like the shepherd, did not put conditions on the return of their beloved...they just welcomed them back and rejoiced.
At times, our Aspie kids even play the part of the forgiving father. Welcoming US back as we return from a loss of strength, a loss of faith, a loss of  energy...and their delicate yet loving shoulders give us support to continue....