There are moments in time when one wants to stop the clock and just relish in the moment. I had one of those last night. There is a small group of men that were seeing me individually and I felt as though I should take them through a step study from our Celebrate Recovery program. They agreed to this so we just did lesson 3 last night which is the lesson on HOPE. One of the questions each one responds to identifies what their relationship with their Heavenly Father is like. A young man in his early 20’s who struggles with autism and I have been working with for 6 months now, responded that he really didn’t have a relationship with God and that was all he said. This wasn’t news to me for he had expressed this a few times over the months we’ve been meeting.

As the session continued and we got to the last question, it askes, “What things are you ready to change in your life? Where can you get the power to change them?” This young man said when it was his turn, “I think I’m ready to have a relationship with Jesus.” There was more he said here about the power to change, but I was so touched to hear him say what he did at first, I can’t recall the rest. I simply got teary and wanted to stay in that moment. I get teary now writing this.

This young man lost his mom when he was 13. She died during a surgery which wasn’t a life-threatening one. He’s been reared by a very kind father, but distant one. He’s been hurt many times by kids and adults due to his autism (his lack of social skills). He just hasn’t known what to do with God when those who hurt him were often church folks. This got more complicated when he spent two years at a Christian college. However, God knows how to reach all of His children and for this–I give thanks!