Autism Awareness Month Day 24

Happy Super Sunday!
MrJK and I had a bit of a ‘relaxing’ time in bed in this morning. Neither of us were in a rush to get out of bed so we both stayed there until at least 7.30am which is really rare for us.
Everyone picked out their clothes for church, all vaguely matching of course and I ironed them. It was a blue and grey day. We don’t always do it on purpose but it’s just that we are all pretty in tune with each other it just works out that way.
We all got ready, JJ put on lace up trainers and tied the laces YAY and then we were out the door at the same time. However MrJK doesn’t like going to church in the car so he will always walk but as for me if there’s a slight sign of rain the kids and I won’t walk with him, we get in the car. I know it’s weird all going to the same place but using different modes of transport. We might walk together in the summer when the children can ride bikes or scooters. As I pulled out I saw my sis and family and I laughed to myself thinking they must think we are strange, me in the car MrJK walking but then I thought nah, she knows we’re strange lol!
We got to church early as usual. I was leading worship, meaning being the main singer for the day who chose the songs the church would sing under the direction of God. I’ve been doing this since I was 12 years old in the different churches I have been to. Our church has quite a few people who are equipped to do this so we take it in turns each Sunday as per rota.
Nae-Nae was also on the rota to control the projector. This means she controlled the computer and projector that brings up the song words on the screen for the congregation to follow. The job is to make sure the right words of the song are up on the screen at the right time. It can be a bit of a challenge for the projector person when I’m leading as I don’t always follow the song words in the order in which it is written. I may repeat verses, jump to the chorus on stay on one thing for ages as the spirit leads but I’ll always give a heads up to where I’m going next by singing the first line of the part or talking the instruction. Nae-Nae totally listened and tuned in to what I was doing and kept up with me. I was so proud of her!
I’m not going to mention my church’s name but I want to give a tribute to it. They have been so supportive of us as a family. Although they have had other families with children on the spectrum before and have more now since we’ve come, I can tell you they have never seen anything like us lol. Like I say all children on the spectrum are different and over the years they have totally accommodated things I may have suggested which help us engage with the service. When I identified that my children wanted to serve in the church in particular areas (JJ helps the sound team) and they had a particular gifting for it, I approached the leaders of departments who didn’t question their abilities to do those things but they gave them an opportunity and may have been quite shocked at the skills because they are little hidden geniuses. Nae-Nae in particular sometimes comes across like a child that can’t keep still, she has occasional outbursts, she used to scream a lot, she can be quite intense, she doesn’t appear to be able to exercise patience all the time, she talks with a baby voice a lot, does immature movements and so on.. However sit her at the computer controlling the projector and you get a different child. When my children have a job to do they take it very seriously.

Nae-Nae doesn’t always engage with the worship time and stays in the back hall at times by choice and will come in and out as she feels led. No one has ever questioned us as to why she does that but they just go with it. If that’s what she needs to do, that’s what she needs to do. Nevertheless, when she is on the projector she won’t move. She sits still there doing her job engaging in worship time until it’s finished. I must try and see if I can get her on the rota a bit more as she loves it and it helps her want to be part of the whole service.
Worship time was amazing and I’m not just saying that because I led. When I lead it’s not about me at all, I’m just the vessel that was used for the day doing whatever the Lord wanted for the day. He obviously wanted the congregation to be very active as the songs caused people to really move and dance their socks off. Another tribute to the musicians at our church as they are incredible and give their time and skills freely. God bless them!
I wasn’t on children work (Sunday school) today as we do that on rota too and it’s my month and a day off so I got to remain in the service and listen to the preach. It was such a wonderful time the whole service was amazing and I felt totally refreshed and empowered for the journey ahead, whatever it will be.
As you can see my faith is very important to me and it has definitely got us through some really tough times. I don’t know where I would be now if I didn’t believe. As for my children they have a beautiful and very individual relationship with God. It’s never been forced and they connect the way they want to in the way they want to. If there are days when they don’t feel like going to church and one parent is available to stay at home with them then that’s what they do. It doesn’t change their love for God or faith. Sometimes they just need quiet time at home and that’s absolutely fine by us.
There was a time when Nae-Nae struggled with the children’s work but loved the worship time so she would only want to come to church for the first part of the service and then go home. We supported her in that and never made her stay and either parent would take her home when she needed to go home. Now she doesn’t want to miss children’s work for the world. If it’s on, she’s there! It’s all about timing!
We had no sports club today so we went home for a rest… Well not quite. MrJK cooked the roast dinner for the evening, I did the ironing for the week, Nae-Nae worked on some more homework and JJ well he played games on his laptop. After dinner in the evening I braided Nae-Nae’s hair as she has class photos tomorrow. I usually get some form of fuss from her about doing her hair but when I told her it was school photo day tomorrow and she isn’t going with messy hair she just sat down and made no noise.
Perhaps I should pretend we have some form of photography taking place most weeks. The girl is vain I can tell you! Her beauty is very important to her. She will not be captured in photos unless she feels she looks the way she thinks she should. She gets this from her father. Another vain individual… Lol. For him presentation is key. We were asked once by a head teacher of a school, how do we get our child’s socks so white all the time. In my head I was thinking ‘errr wash them’ but actually MrJK doesn’t just wash them he sprays a spray on them first, leaves them for a bit before putting them in the wash. They come out sparkling white. He does it with white shirts too as he doesn’t do the faded white shirt look, it bothers him greatly lol.

After I had finished all my chores well the two chores I do lol, ironing and children’s hair, I chilled for the evening. As I write I think I must make myself look so lazy lol but I’m not! I just do a lot of other stuff and I think in order to do that God needed to send me a man that can cook and takes pride of his home and family’s appearance so does the cooking, cleaning, gardening and washing too. However he doesn’t do diy! Anything that needs fixing or putting together like new wardrobes etc, I do that or we hire someone. I was always a bit of a tomboy so those jobs inspire me greatly. I do love cooking and I can do it well but I just don’t need to all of the time as MrJK loves doing it more.
Bath and then bed for me by 9pm. I’m ready for a busy and emotional week… Last day at my main job on Friday! I’m still excited and not scared because I believe God has a plan for me and I will walk in my purpose and never lack any good thing. I totally believe that for our whole family.
Peace and Love
MrsJK