Faith

As the mom of a child with autism, I think my senses are much more heightened to how people treat children with disabilities than the average Joe.  My family lives in a great community that on the whole, is very respectful of those struggling with disabilities.  However, that constant nagging worry is always present in my mind, wondering if people will notice and mention or tease my child for the little things that make her different.

This spring my middle daughter Hayden played volleyball through our community center and begged my husband to coach her team.  He agreed and after the first game I could tell he was really enjoying it.  It made my heart swell to see the smile on her face as Rob ran them through drills and taught them new skills.

The team, "Pink Lightning", was comprised of ten 3rd and 4th grade girls whose skills were basically split down the middle.  A few could get their serves consecutively over the net, most could not.  Each practice Rob would work with the team on the basics of serving.  I'm so proud to say that by the end of our 6-game season, everyone could serve over the net...everyone except Faith.

Faith's parents never told us anything about her, but it was obvious she had some mental and physical disabilities.  She was stick-thin with an uneven gait but had a smile that never left her face.  Most of the time Faith didn't really seem to know what was going on during the game.  She would shy away from the ball as it came to her and usually had to be told where to move in the rotation.

After our first few practices, Hayden asked me, "Does Faith have autism?"  I told her I didn't know what Faith's disability was, but I was proud that Faith had joined our team and was trying to better herself.  She was committed to every practice and game and worked diligently to master her serve.

Our short season came to an end this past weekend and we found ourselves in the second seed spot for the tournament.  You could cut glass with the ear-piercing shrieks from our team as we won our first 2 games and wound up in the championship bracket.

In the final match, we lost our first game of 3 and began the second game that battled back and forth the entire time.  As I looked at our player setup, I noticed that Rob had put several strong servers back to back in an attempt to rack up some points.  However, the girls were nervous and a few of our faithful power servers cracked under the pressure.  The score ping-ponged back and forth the entire game.

It was our turn to serve and Faith was up.  I hoped that she would at least make contact with the ball.  I watched as Faith lined up her serve with a few arm swings and then made contact with the ball.  The ball sailed forward and over the net, landing on the other side scoring a point for us.  All of the sudden the parent bleachers erupted in clapping and hollering.  The player bench and floor cleared as everyone rushed to Faith.  Rob jumped 2 feet in the air and pumped his fist at her success.  Our assistant coach picked her up and swung her in a circle.  Her teammates were all over her with high fives and hugs.

As I watched from the sidelines, tears filled my eyes.  Of course, I was so happy for Faith...but I was more deeply touched by how our community reacted and celebrated Faith and her success.  Once again, a little bit more of my "faith" in humanity was restored.

--BTW, we won the tournament :)