I feel like I’ve used this title before, or maybe it’s that I should use it more often.  The past month has been really difficult with Ethan and his emotional outbursts.  The last two days the worst.  I’ve racked my brain trying to figure out how to help him through this.  We try every intervention imaginable and take a few steps forward, a then a few back.  I imagine many who hear that a child has a high IQ might think, “Wow, I guess you won’t have to worry whether he’ll have good grades or not.”  I know that thought didn’t cross my mind.  I mostly was relieved to finally understand why he was so different than other kids.  And sometimes, I admit, I wish for a normal child.  One who can play a game on the computer and if they don’t win it, will not have a complete meltdown that lasts for hours.  But God has chosen Ethan to be in our family and he has a purpose for him.  He has entrusted Ethan in our care to teach and train him for the kingdom work God is preparing him for.  And so I am humbled.  Humbled that I don’t know how to help him.  Humbled that after working with hundreds of families with troubled kids, I can’t help my own.  Humbled that God would choose me, a wounded healer, to shape this child.  And humbled when I realize I cannot do it on my own. 

But I have hope.  The God who knows each star by name knows the struggles of my heart.  He who stops the wind and rain has the strength to help me endure.  The Lord who was friends with misfits and sinners can meet me where I am and teach me what I need to know.  This journey that we are on with Ethan will be a long one.  He will always struggle with perfectionism, high emotionality, and won’t always see things the way we do.  But just as God is always by our side, so will we be with Ethan.  We will take advantage of each opportunity to turn him back to Jesus and show him the right path.

Related Resources: Living With Intensity: Understanding the Sensitivity, Excitability, and the Emotional Development of Gifted Children, Adolescents, and Adults