神美好的生命陶鑄 God’s Beautiful Shaping of Life

 「因為看重關係，所以心甘情願」。小鴿子昨天的表現，見證了自閉兒也可以做到這一點。

清明連假最後一天，我們全家去太平坪林公園野餐。我們選定在戲水區旁的樹下用餐，這樣方便我們看著鴿子----如果他想去玩水的話。不久，鴿子果然想玩水了，我們目送他過去，一如原本的設定；但才一會兒，鴿子就回來了。

「鴿子要去玩嗎？」媽媽問。鴿子不說話，暱在我身旁，靠著腿躺下。

一家人閒聊了一會兒，再問鴿子一次：「鴿子要玩水嗎？」這時候，戲水區正傳來小朋友玩水的歡笑聲。鴿子暱在我的腿上，很明確地說：「No！」

我們很驚訝，因為這違反小孩的天性，尤其我們離戲水區這麼近，鴿子不該有分離焦慮才對。這時候媽媽突然意識到了什麼，說話了：「嘿！你們看，鴿子有多愛我們一家人！因為我們都在這裡野餐聊天，所以鴿子寧願跟我們在一起，也不願去跟其他小朋友一起玩。」不久，戲水區飄來鴿子最喜歡的泡泡，鴿子很開心的起身戳泡泡，但，他的雙腳仍站在野餐墊上，沒有離開。我們又驚訝了。

要離開坪林公園時，姐姐去還租借的U-bike，其他人收拾東西上車，準備到出口接姐姐。車子才剛離開，鴿子突然情緒崩潰，哭著回頭指著車後的方向：「Darwin！Darwin！I want Darwin！」（註：小鴿子把卡通「阿甘妙世界」主角一家的角色，對應到自己的家人身上，哥哥是Gumball＼阿甘，姐姐是Darwin＼阿達）原來，他發現姐姐沒有上車，急著要找姐姐。我們跟他解釋姐姐去還車，等會兒就可以看到姐姐，鴿子臉上帶淚，稍微安靜下來。到了出口，我下車繳停車費，一上車，鴿子又哭了。媽媽笑著解釋：「你幹嘛慢慢走去繳費？鴿子在車裡看著你喊：『You can run！ Run~』他急著找姐姐，催你動作快一點啦！」直到姐姐上了車，鴿子才真正平復了情緒，一路安靜地回家。

感謝神，讓我們看到小鴿子這麼窩心的一面。人際關係是自閉兒的弱項，但小鴿子卻發展出對親人關係極度看重的能力。神對生命動工的大能，真是不可思議啊！感謝讚美主！

“Because he values relationships, he is willing.”
Yesterday, Jabez’s actions demonstrated that even a child with autism can do exactly that.

On the last day of the Tomb Sweeping long weekend, our family went to Taiping Pinglin Park for a picnic. We chose a spot under a tree near the water-play area so we could easily keep an eye on Jabez—just in case he wanted to play in the water. Before long, Jabez did indeed want to go. We watched him walk over, just as we had expected—but only moments later, he came back.

“Jabez, do you want to play?” his mom asked.
Jabez didn’t speak. He leaned against me and lay down beside my leg.

After chatting for a while, we asked him again, “Jabez, do you want to play in the water?” At that moment, the water-play area was full of children’s joyful laughter. Leaning against my leg, Jabez answered clearly, “No!”

We were surprised, because this went against a child’s natural instincts—especially since we were so close to the water-play area. Separation anxiety shouldn’t have been a factor. That was when Mom suddenly realized something and said, “Hey! Look how much Jabez loves our family! Because we’re all here chatting and having a picnic, he would rather stay with us than go play with the other kids.”
A moment later, bubbles—Jabez’s absolute favorite—floated over from the water-play area. He happily got up to pop them, but his feet remained on our picnic mat. He did not leave. Again, we were amazed.

When it was time to leave the park, his sister went to return the rented U-bike while the rest of us packed up and got in the car to drive to the exit and pick her up. The car had barely moved when Jabez suddenly had an emotional meltdown, crying and pointing behind us:
“Darwin! Darwin! I want Darwin!”
(Note: Jabez associates our family members with characters from The Amazing World of Gumball—his brother is Gumball, and his sister is Darwin.)
He had noticed that his sister wasn’t in the car and urgently wanted to find her. We explained that she went to return the bike and that he would see her soon. With tears on his cheeks, he quieted down a little. When we reached the exit, I got out to pay the parking fee. As soon as I got back in the car, Jabez started crying again. His mom laughed and said, “Why did you walk so slowly to pay? Jabez was watching you from the car saying, ‘You can run! Run~’ He’s anxious to find his sister and wants you to hurry!”
Only after his sister got into the car did Jabez finally calm down completely, riding home quietly the rest of the way.

We thank God for letting us witness such a tender side of Jabez.
Relationships are typically the weakest area for children with autism, yet Jabez has developed an extraordinary ability to treasure his family deeply. God’s transforming work in a life is truly astonishing. Praise the Lord!