Resilience: Lessons learned from a child…

Baby Olivia

My daughter’s friend, Olivia, was born with bilateral club foot. She had her first cast when she was one week old. Her casts were changed every week turning her precious feet little by little for six weeks. For a whole year, she was in a bar brace for 24 hours a day…she started walking at 13 months. Since then, she has had to wear a bar and brace taper every night during sleep. Earlier this year, her mother told me that Olivia would be heading back to Shriners Hospital to get another cast. This cast would be from her toes to her hip. Olivia is only 3 years old… 

Friends: Olivia (left) and my
Little Love (right)

Several nights a week, this beautiful child is at my house playing with my daughter. We absolutely adore her and her sister! So I prepared my Little Love for what was about to happen to her friend. We PRAYED about it at night (and continue to); I explained to her that we may have to help Olivia get up and down the stairs. I told her to be GENTLE, be PATIENT, and to HELP her friend if she needed anything.

The day Olivia got her pink cast; I took my Little Love to visit with her. I remember my sweet child carrying around a baby wipe (for 2 hours) and continuing to place it on Olivia’s cast…it was supposed to make her feel better. I also remember my daughter tripping over Olivia's cast and hitting her tooth on it...discovering just how hard a cast is (yikes). Wow, there went being gentle with her!

Leaving Shriners with a pink cast!

But Olivia is a tough cookie! Her needing help...what help?  By the end of the first week; she was up and down the stairs.. She scooted her little body all over the house, we continued to go to our Sat morning breakfasts, shopping, and she even goes to the pool (one foot dangling in the water). The night before she got her full cast off (in a shorter one now) she walked down the hallway (walked as in STANDING UP), one leg in a pink cast, the other in a high heel Disney princess shoe! My friends and I sat there in complete awe over her! Although I do admit, she did make us giggle a bit.What a sight! (Click on read more)

Sat. morning breakfast.

As a mother, I can’t imagine what it must have been like for her parents to hear that their precious unborn child had club foot. To see their new born in a cast. For most parents, a nightly routine might be assisting in brushing their child's teeth or giving them milk...for them, this included a nightly bar brace on Olivia's feet. To have to tell her three years later that she will have to get another cast, to tell her that she cannot go swimming or bike riding when all her friends are. I have gotten to know this family in the past year and I truly ADMIRE THEIR STRENGTH. Their faith in the Lord is equally as strong and it helps them get through tough times.

Earlier this week.

That night (watching Olivia walk in a cast and a high heel)  I laid in bed thinking about her RESILIENCE. What if my life was destined for this challenge? Would I be as resilient as this beautiful three year old? Would I be as strong as her? Would I use it as an excuse to not go into work, not to spend time with my friends, or to sit around the television and have my own pity party? If it was my child, would I be as strong as her parents? This family has certainly been an inspiration to me lately. So just when life seems to overwhelm me, I can think of Miss Olivia, her pink cast, her parents, and as always…refer to scriptures.

 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12;12

Olivia has been in and out of Shriners Hospital since birth. Shriners Hospital has truly been a blessing to this family!. For friends local to the Greenville  SC, below is a link for an upcoming charity run.  

Shriners Hospital for Children Candlelight 5k

http://go-greenevents.com/event/id/1356