The best gift

I don't know about most three year old children, but I hear stories of what they do. With the way she works, Claire is not able to go sit at the table and draw me a picture and call it a gift. She does however do the most amazing things that I would never think to ask for. The other night I decided that I needed to check the warmth of her new down comforter, to make sure she does not get too cold at night. She was just waking from her nap and it was starting to get dark, so we plugged the Christmas lights in and looked at the trees outside. Of coarse, the big fat cat jumped up to join us, she can't not be the center of attention. As we lay there, Claire laughing at the cat, her hands were so quiet. She rolled on her side to look closely at the cat, and had the most serene smile. We had a quick discussion and decided that I would help her to pet Athena. As we pet the cat the most amazing thing happened, her arms and hands flowed like water. Often when giving Claire a map like this, her body often stiffens or resists. But is was so fluid, her little fingers would run through the cats soft hair and she just smiled. This went on for about 25 minutes, then Daddy came home and the cat jumped off the bed to guard the door. This meant so much to me, especially during this "holiday" time. We have had to make a focus for walking right now, which means not working a lot on Claire's fine motor skills. Of the challenges that she has, her hands are by far the biggest at this point. As we laid there and cuddled, it was like she was reminding me to not give up. I always have hope, knowing that God has a perfect plan for her. But I have also accepted that she will not do some things that others do. It was the greatest gift that I could ask for, her reminding me in her quiet way, that there is more to work on, that she can do it.