It’s easy to take your child’s special need diagnosis personally. Often times, we work so hard to find solutions, or fix our children, that we miss the blessings in our new life journey.
That was Bruce’s story. When his 8-year old son Bauer was diagnosed with autism, at a very early age, Bruce took it personally, even blamed himself. For years he tried to “fix” his son. He and his wife Bethany took Bauer to therapy 5 days a week, which was helpful, according to Bruce, but often in attempt to fix.
Then something changed in Bruce’s heart. God grabbed ahold of him and opened his eyes. He realized something powerful- his son was not broken. He did not need to be fixed. He needed to be celebrated for who he was and who God had made him to be. Autism was no longer the prison sentence that Bruce once thought it was. It was a huge blessing because that’s the way he chose to see it.
Bruce loves his family and it’s clear as you listen to his words in today’s show. The road has not been perfect for the their family, but he sees the beauty in their son’s life and in the life they’ve been so richly blessed with.
Listen to the Podcast.
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Notes and Quotes from The Show.
Every time I have a conversation with Bruce, on air, or off, it’s filled with wisdom and quotable content. In this episode, we talked about so much great, and motivating, content that it was hard to find one piece of wisdom that stuck out among the rest. What I loved the most was that this episode was filled with hope for anyone parenting a child with special needs.
One reoccurring theme throughout the show was that you cannot allow your difficult circumstance to defeat you or even win the daily battles you face. You must keep going in-spite of tough moments. At one point, Bruce shared these words…
[shareable]You can’t rest in your problems. There’s got to be solutions in those problems! – Bruce Humphrey[/shareable]
You have to find solutions. There is no other way to live your life when you’re faced with overwhelming odds. We were never guaranteed an easy life, nor were we told that the road would rise to meet us when the journey became tough. We are changed by how we choose to see the life we are blessed with!
[shareable]My son is not broken! -Bruce Humphrey[/shareable]
Resources and Links.
As we mentioned in the beginning of the show, Bruce is the lead pastor of Common Ground Church in Tampa, Florida. Common Ground is a multi-ethnic, growing community of believers right in the heart of urban Tampa. I had the opportunity to speak at Common Ground in early October and found it to be a loving and authentic community.
- Visit Common Ground Church’s website.
- Follow Bruce on Twitter.
- Learn more about Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy.
We hope you’ve found Bruce’s story and the topic on today’s broadcast helpful, enriching, and most of all, empowering. We would love to hear from you on this topic, and any other topic we cover on Honestly Speaking. Leave us a comment below or send us an email.
[reminder]Are you the parent of a child with special needs? Share your journey with us.[/reminder]