Or A Combination Of Both?
A week ago, I wrote THIS post ... asking you to continue to pray for our family ... for our Little Miss ... for healing from the devastation that R.A.D. brings ...
Specifically, I asked you to be ...
Praying for healing.
Praying for answers.
Praying for respite.
Praying for support.
Praying for a job so that we can afford to start therapy.
($500+ for the initial consultation,
plus $150 for each ongoing session)
Praying for a breakthrough.
Praying for release from the enemy for our daughter.
Praying for peace in our home.
Praying for comfort for all of the siblings.
(It truly scares the boys.)
So, at the same time I asked you to pray for financial provision so that we can get Little Miss into therapy, I also asked you to pray for "a release from the enemy" for our daughter.
It would appear that some of you are not comfortable with that combination.
I believe that some of you probably prefer the psychology route ... while I know that some of you only believe in the spiritual route.
But, isn't there room for both?
Do you not believe that the Lord can work through psychologists just as He can work through medical doctors? (I realize that some of you may not "believe in" using medical doctors, either, but most of you do take your children to the medical doctor when there are serious needs.)
Let's look at a few of the comments ...
" I pray that you will find help that you can afford and that will bring true healing. Have you considered an evaluation at Seattle Children's?" ... this was from my dear friend Lisa ... a mom who has also walked the difficult road through RAD ... a mom who also believes in the healing power of the Lord ... yet, a mom who has gotten MUCH help for the profession of psychology.
"RAD has reared its ugly head at our house too. We also received our 57 page report from BG Center this week. 57 pages of quite dismal diagnoses. But there is hope!" ... from my sweet bloggy friend, Connie ... another mom who is walking this journey ... another mom who has sacrificed every last dime to find help for her son ... but another mom who also has the HOPE of the LORD in her.
"The worlds "salve" cannot cure a spiritual disease! My parents tried there best, "applying" one salve after another, only to realize that the "disease" would not go away. Walking in sin/rebellion is a "wound" that can only heal through the salve that dripped from a cross two thousand years ago. Praying that your Little Miss lays her wounds where the salve of true healing runs down." Mama in Uganda and I don't always see eye to eye on every issue, but I do have great respect for this mama, who is raising a very large family in Africa.
"I do believe it is spiritual warfare. " ... from Marty, another hurting mama walking in the trenches.
then ... from an email I received ...
"That means spiritual warfare under the leadership and guidance of a Spirit-filled pastor or church counselor. You and Jim can't do it yourselves because you're too involved and too exhausted. Anyway, this requires special training and lots of experience. The actual Gift of Discernment (1 Cor. 12) and qualification for intense spiritual warfare are extremely rare in the church today. ... It's a far better approach to the problem than "therapy".
As Mama in Uganda says, "Walking in sin/rebellion is a "wound" that can only heal through the salve that dripped from a cross two thousand years ago. Praying that your Little Miss lays her wounds where the salve of true healing runs down."
Amen.
Absolutely.
I agree.
We have talked this through with Little Miss MANY, MANY times. We have prayed for her. We have prayed with her. We have prayed over her. We know that the enemy has a hold of her heart, and for whatever reason, she will not release that hold ... she will not allow herself to fall into the arms of Jesus, the One who can bring true healing.
I haven't ever gone into details of the rages that our Little Miss experiences, but a sure sign of the enemies hold on her is that if I start quietly praying for her while she is raging, she will start yelling at me to stop. The louder I pray, the louder she yells. She begs and pleads with me to STOP PRAYING. Folks ... if you are not familiar with spiritual warfare ... this is only a little tiny glimpse into what it can look like. It can be quite scary, especially for the other children. I do not share this to bring any type of condemnation nor judgement on my precious daughter ... but to try to help you to understand how very serious the spiritual warfare is that we are dealing with.
In the meantime ...
... is it really wrong to seek help from "the professionals"?
... isn't there the possibility that a therapist might be able to help us to walk through each day together until such time as Little Miss chooses to "lay her wounds where the salve of true healing runs down"?
We KNOW that our precious little girl needs to find true healing from the Lord. And, we cry out to Him to bring that about.
Yet, somehow I sometimes feel judged by the fact that we are also hoping to get the help of a trained therapist.
Just an F.Y.I. ... we have no plans just to look in the phone book and call up the closest "therapist". There is a group of therapists in the Seattle area who work specifically with children who struggle with R.A.D. And, guess what? These therapists don't just have their diplomas hanging on the wall. No. They have walked through the trenches themselves. I believe that two of the therapists in this particular office are adoptive parents who themselves have children with R.A.D. I believe there is a third therapist in the office who was, herself, an adopted child with R.A.D. Even if these therapists are not there to anoint my daughter with oil and call out demons ... isn't there the slight possibility that they just might be able to help us navigate this most difficult journey? I am banking on it. I am praying for financial provision to be able to have them hold my hand as I do my darndest to parent this child, while awaiting full and complete healing from the Lord.
On the flip side ... we also have no plans on looking in the phone book for the closest pastor that might have the experience to bring healing and deliverance to our daughter. And, we don't believe that any type of "diploma on the wall" of a pastor will make him qualified for such a task, or not. We have also sadly discovered that when we have disclosed any of the parenting challenges brought on by our adopted children, that we can quickly be shunned by pastors, friends, adoption support groups, etc ... So, going around town and knocking on the doors of every pastor just isn't going to happen.
We absolutely believe in healing.
We absolutely believe in spiritual warfare.
We absolutely believe in deliverance from the enemy.
Yet ... we also believe that the Lord can and does work through ordinary men and women ... and we believe that He can even work through the profession of psychology, if He so chooses.
What do you believe?
Where do you stand on this issue?
If you have children with mental/psychological challenges ... I'd love to hear what route you have chosen.
