In August 2011, our daughter Aster was diagnosed with a severe speech disorder, and was recently confirmed as having Apraxia**. At the age of two and a half she could only say fifteen words. At the age of three she could barely say five, and those five were very hard to understand.
We didn’t know what the future held; we just knew we’d been praying and waiting for two years to hear her precious voice. And now it was diminishing. I was in shock. And honestly my heart broke a little more each day for the first several weeks.
I knew God was in control and that He could completely heal her. But my mommy-heart hopes and dreams for hearing my little girl’s voice were shattered. And my world turned upside down for a while.
When we shared our story on Facebook and at some speaking events, many of you spoke hope, grace and truth over our hearts. You comforted us with your prayers and claimed God’s promises over our little girl.
Aster has been going to speech therapy two times each week for six months. Her progress has been very slow. In January we discovered her two year molars never formed enamel so a little over a week ago she had surgery, and little silver crowns were put on them.
What happened next was almost miraculous! The crowns must have relieved severe pain we didn’t know about because she couldn’t tell us. And she never indicated it either. (Her pain threshold is incredible!) Her progress in the past ten days has been amazing. Then last weekend, when they came to get me from the airport after a speaking event, Aster started babbling a ton.
So, I got out my iPhone, turned it to where she could see herself when it was filming and we witness a break-through on camera!! Here’s a sweet little peak into God’s faithfulness! {Note, she had never done this before!}
I can’t help but celebrate the “good things HE planned long ago” for a little girl who needed a family to help her find her voice – and for a family who needed a little girl to help them experience the depth of God’s love!
Thank you Lord for the gift of our precious little Ethiopian princess!
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Praise the Father for HIS never ending LOVE. I am in tears of joy just watching this video. Thank you so much for sharing this, I will be sharing this with some mamas that I know that are going thru various trials as well….
Love your heart Renee you are such a blessing!!
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing. God is so good to His people.
Thanks so much for sharing! Definitely made my day. God knew Aster needed you for her mama. Have worked with special needs adults some but mainly children so know what a blessing they can be. Part of my lack of confidence came from not being diagnosed until I was in college, which was especially interesting since my mother had a student she sent for testing who was the inspiration for Mother to get interested in special ed. I have a disorder called cluttering (very mild compared to Aster and others). It isn’t as common in the U.S., but is a speech disorder accompanied by learning disabilities. My family understood my speech most of the time, but talking with others was frustrating since I was mostly ignored. Speech therapy in college helped, but wasn’t given help with the learning disabilities since I had managed ok so far. School was challenging. Didn’t help that I compared myself to my sister (15 1/2 months older) who didn’t have to study & got straight A’s while if I put enough time & effort in got B’s. Working with children helped my speech (used some of their speech therapy techniques) but have noticed last couple years that have been home full time that speech is not as clear any more. Not sure why I shared all that. Anyway, enjoy your sweet daughter and each increment of progress no matter how small.
Thank you for sharing your story, too, Holly. One day Aster will be a grown woman so it’s good for me to hear from you on her behalf. Praying for you sweet Child of God. You are precious and valuable – just as you are. I”m so proud of you for persevering through your learning challenges and making B’s. That is still something to be proud of!!
{{HUGS}} Renee
Renee,
that was so sweet! How excited you must have been and are. I am a NICU nurse, I understand what you are talking about, and can imagine what you (and Aster) have been going through. Praise God that she is feeling so much better as well as the progress in her speech.
Much love and prayers,
Dannielle
What a blessing!!! Children like her and my friend, Brenda’s daughter, Elizabeth are so precious and give some much to us. what they give us is free, honest, light, has no obligation, and doesn’t cost them anything. They just give us Love true agape Love
Awwwwww…Adorable. I’ll never forget when my sisters and I were gathered around our little nephew. He was over one year old and didn’t seem to be able to hear us talk to him, didn’t respond when we clapped our hands. He was not making sounds the way kids his age normally do. Soon, my sister was faced with her young son’s apraxia, low muscle tone, and a number of other disorders. One pediatrician commented, “He may never speak.” The news was devastating. A number of therapies began right away.
That was 19 years ago. Today this strapping 6’4″ guy talks a blue streak! Honestly, the other day on a long car ride, over 2 hours, he did not come up for air. He just chatted and chatted, observing everything we passed by, telling stories. I was so quickly reminded of the miracles God has done in my beloved nephew’s life.
She is very quite and knows the cameral well.
Oh my goodness she is soooo precious!!!!! I remember when my son wouldn’t talk for the longest time! then when he did it was difficult to understand him. Sometimes he would talk real fast, i would tell him that momma is a bit old so you need to speak a little slower, that helped him to speak more and slower and i did start to teach him to speak spanish because he could talk so fast. His pronounciation is so much better than mine and it’s my first language! LOL My son is now 22 and speaks with a bit of an accent and is doing great he will be leaving for Job Corp. soon. He is very excited! oh and in a years time he will be getting his ordination for preaching ( i think that’s what it’s called)I hope this encourages you Renee. You have an adorable daughter and i was truely blessed by your video!
So precious to see the love you two have. God has given Aster a Momma who will help her through the minefields of life because she has walked the road before her. Caring for others because God cares for us!!!
I am so glad I clicked on the link to watch you and Aster. :O)
My heart has been very sad for the past few days and listening to Aster made my heart happy.
Children are such a blessing and it’s so beautiful to see her progressing.
Praise God for you and you husband for loving her and bringing her into your home.
How precious. We serve an awesome God.
Thanks for sharing Renee! Your little princess is so beautiful. And yes, it did bring smiles!
She is soooooooooooo adorable!!! May God continue to bless you and your family!!
Take Care, God Bless, and Stay Beautiful!!
You were right…this did make me smile…I LOVE little kids…they are such a great gift from God!
Blessings to you and your family!!!
My now 11 year old son has Down syndrome and Apraxia as well. Other than gross approximations and babbling we heard hardly a word from him until one night, when he was 5 years old, I tucked him into bed and heard a spontaneous but clear “love you” pop out of his mouth. I am sure you can imagine my joy and tears. When my son could not speak we would put his hands together at night and pray for him. Slowly, he would hold his own hands together and we would speak for him, and then he would put his hands together and get out a word or two of his own. Now, he prays all by himself and we never take a word for granted (although there is much we wish he wouldn’t say — wink, wink). Keep up the hard work and prepare to enjoy many more beautiful moments of triumph that are sure to come!
Renee,
I think that God’s favor is upon you, because yourbook has been a blessing and an answer to the prayer of lots of women. I praise God for His wonderful plan with your Aster. ( In Suriname, a flower is called Aster) May she also bloom like this special flower. God bless you and your family Renee.
your friend from Suriname, South America
Aster is so cute!! I will pray she continues to improve and that God heals her completely.
Thank you so much for sharing your joy with us! She is getting so big!!!
That was absolutely amazing! Brought tears to my eyes! God is AWESOME & AMAZING! He can do wonderful things! Thank You Lord for your healing gift! Continue to heal little Aster! Continue to form the sounds & letter to her mouth & voice, in Jesus Name! Thank You again Jesus!
Be blessed Swope Family!
It was such a blessing to see this video. Thanks for sharing this with all of us. It put a smile on my face. I shared what happened with my dear hubby and his response, “That is such a miracle”