Witnessing a Modern Day Miracle and Realization of Dreams

I am generally a very funny person but this morning I blog with a cup that runneth over with joy.  Let me start by saying that I have finally been granted permission by my oldest daughter to share her story.  It is a beautiful story that God wrote from the very beginning.  It has many gorgeous details and a lot of heartache.  It is a story of perseverance, the triumph of the human spirit, never backing down, and most importantly following God when the way seems dark and lonely and you can't see a light at the end of the tunnel.  I am beyond delighted to have permission to write her story.  Some of the details will be left out still, simply to protect her.  It is my prayer as I candidly type her story that it will give even just one person hope for another day.

My oldest daughter is about to turn 18 in a few short weeks.  She will be graduating high school this year and attending college in the fall.  When she was born, I had so many hopes and dreams for her like all moms do.  I remember laying on the bed with her when she was a few days old and crying because I wanted her to be able to remain so innocent the rest of her life.  I knew the world was cruel and I just ached for what she would experience and see in this old world one day.  I knew I couldn't save her from everything, but I vowed to that baby that day that I would die trying.  It is a vow I have kept to my beautiful girl.

Fast forward to school days:  Every mom gets excited and sad when their child goes off to Kindergarten, and every mom just knows that their kid is the smartest, the most adorable, etc.  Up until they go to Kindergarten they ARE!  but all of a sudden, they are judged on the world's scale in a school and it isn't always as pretty as we dreamed it to be.  If you have a child that makes straight A's all the time and work is simple for them, I am so incredibly happy for you.  I no longer wish that was my lot in life for motherhood.  I am grateful for every tear that was shed over homework and every mean thing that has been said to my girl because this is God's story and my girl has turned into an incredibly hard worker, self motivated, Christian young lady who will do amazing things in God's kingdom in her life.  I spent many years crying and praying that things be easier for my girl.  Praise God that He said, "No".

Fast Forward-2nd Grade:  Having had a terrible time in school and grades that suffered, we began to believe there was a problem.  We took her to have her eyes tested and her hearing tested. Then ultimately had testing done through the school and pediatrician where the ultimate diagnosis was Attention Deficit Disorder and a learning disablility.  NOT what I dreamed of when my girl was born.  We moved on, and things improved with knowledge of how to deal with our daughter.  A behavioral therapist was involved and also was able to help us tremendously to teach our daughter how to deal with her "lot".

Kids are mean and there have been many hurtful things uttered to our girl about being dumb and stupid and "special ed".  I can't believe that special ed is actually a term children use to refer to another one of God's creatures.  In our home, we celebrate D's if we worked hard to get them.  ABCDF are letters used to judge knowledge on the world's scale, NOT GOD'S SCALE.  God's scale judges how much character a child has, and how loving they are, and whether or not they are kind to one another.  My girl is all of these things.

In 6th grade, there was new legislation that allowed a child to receive special education services for medical reasons such as Attention Deficit Disorder as well as learning disability.  We made a very hard decision to place her in that program so she could receive the best education opportunity she could receive.

In the meantime, I prayed daily for my girl that things be easier for her and many other specifics as they arose.  Also in the meantime, she grew to love the Lord even more, she grew in stature and faith and in favor with God and man.  She learned to work circles around the other "smarter" kids in class, learned to be incredibly organized, and learned to develop tough skin for hurtful words from mean kids and teasing that was not meant to be teasing but was hurtful even from her best friends.

Fast Forward-12th grade:  She was accepted to college by the grace of God based on her grades which was a feat orchestrated entirely by the one and only God.  Her grade point average continued to rise, provisions were taken away gradually as we learned to learn to where ultimately in the 11th and 12th grade, all special education provisions were removed and my girl was allowed to spread her wings and fly.  She recently received her first set of straight A's.  We all cried and celebrated because we knew that she had finally proved on the world's scale just once that she was smart, a quality that we knew she was all along, but now the world had proof.  TAKE THAT world!!

We had to go to the pediatrician to get booster shots for college and upon the checkup protocol, a hearing test which she failed miserably.  We have had hearing tests almost yearly and she never had passed one, even when we took her to Bill Wilkerson Hearing Institute at Vanderbilt when she was 10.  It was always treated with antibiotics and antihistamines to remove fluid, repair burst ear drum, or some other medical anomaly that may have been present in her ears at the time.  Our pediatrician referred her to an audiologist and a doctor of facial and head surgery to be evaluated for hearing.  We attended the appointment where we were told that our daughter had "severe hearing loss".  The doctor continued to talk and I began to cry not because he told me my daughter needed hearing aids, but because he told our entire story in the context of her hearing loss and he had never met us before to know the struggles our child had in school.  All these things were related to hearing loss and not Attention Deficit Disorder OR a learning disability.  The child simply could not hear.  Now, many would be furious, but not me.  No sir!!  We can't look back we can only look forward, and praise God that we found this!  Had God intended us to find out this problem before now, He would have let it be known and her failed hearing tests would not have been dismissed as fluid, ear infection, etc.

Yesterday I witnessed a miracle.  I praise God and thank Him tearfully that I was able to witness His miracle.  We went to the Audiologist who fitted my girl with hearing aids.  They were programmed to her hearing loss via computer and placed in her ears.  Folks, THIS is what you look like when you are able to hear for the very first time in your life.

My girl was literally giddy when she heard for the first time. She got very teary eyed because she was hearing for the very first time in her life. She started laughing and listening.  The audiologist said, "go outside and ask her a question without her being able to see you"  My girl said, "I heard that!"  She rubbed the chair arm that I was sitting in and pulled her hand away like she touched something hot and I asked her what was wrong, and she said, "OMgoodness did you hear that?  The chair arm makes noise when you rub it!"  She proceeded to tap, whistle and laugh a lot.  I looked over at her because she was making so much noise I couldn't hear the audiologist.  She said, "I am just enjoying hearing!"  Our moments since yesterday have involved her self discovery of the world of hearing.  It is something we take for granted every day.  I will not take this for granted another day.  It has been a wonderful time to watch how excited she is about every noise that I never think about but that she has never heard.  She texted me and said she said the pledge today.  She had not heard it before.

I am so grateful that God chose me to be this fabulous girl's mother.  She has taught me more about life that I would ever have learned from anywhere else.  I am also grateful that God chose to write this wonderful story for my girl and for all the heartache that goes with it, for it made her what she is today: perfect!I will leave you with a picture of my girl showing you her miracle pieces that set her free from the bondage of misdiagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder and a learning disability.

Amanda Dugger Photography did my daughter's senior pictures and also designed her graduation announcements.  The quote that was placed on the front of the announcement is from Eleanor Roosevelt.  It reads, 

 The Future Belongs to Those who Believe in the Beauty of their Dreams

I believe...and so does my girl.  We always have, even when times were tough, we always believed.

Visit www.amandaduggerphotography