You most likely know I have a son with autism...perhgaps some of you do as well. I write about the challenges of raising, living with unpredictable seizures, and finding purpose.

He's been really sick for a few years now, and our life has been challenged and changed drastically. He doesn't leave the house much. He's weak a lot, and he struggles with life outside of his control.

I went to put his iPad on the charger and for whatever reason, his pictures were scrolling across the screen. I stopped to watch them. It was picture after picture of a Kauai vacation in 2012. He was much healthier back then.

The thing that took my breath were the things we did on that trip...because it was how Britton wanted to experience Kauai in his own unique way. We went hiking...which is something most people do on the island of Kauai. But what they don't do...is hike up a river. By up a river, I mean...in the river, sometimes up to our waists, taking steps through rushing water.

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He jumped in it and wanted to stay in. The guide jumped with him and said, "let's do this his way!" So we did. We hiked 8 hours up and back in the Wailea River. We stopped twice for snacks, and it was an exciting day of smiles, laughing and peace. Britton is a nonspeaker, but he spoke several sentences that day. We were elated, dumbfounded, and grateful. We were in awe.

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I wanted to share this story with you...mainly because my son, Britton, has lived a life trying to adapt to this world. Of shifting and struggling and trying with all his might to do things the way everyone else does them. Most of us struggle with some of those same things...just not to the level someone like Britton does.

He tries hard, but he never feels like he fits in. The world either stares at him, or ignores him, pretending he isn't there. I find it strange that kind of behavior...people just don't know what to say..(.I'll give you a hint. It's best if you just say hello and acknowledge him.) But there is no question that Britton sees the world differently than the rest of us.

I'd told him repeatedly before that vacation that it was his vacation, too. I wanted him to relax and enjoy it the best he could. We wanted so much for him to take a deep breath and know that he could just be himself.

In the pictures, I was struck by what an amazing experience it was. I might have swum in that river...but I can promise you I never would've spent 8 hours walking in it. Not unless Britton had jumped in, asking us to follow.

It was one of the most memorable, exciting and special trips of our lives. I often think that perhaps Britton is one of the few people who truly lives his life in color. For the rest of us "fitting in" means living in black and white.

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The guide shared lots of things with us on that trip. How he had been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor and had come to the island to live out his last days. He swore that hiking there...healed him. That the "energy vortex" of the island healed him. He explained that there was a large group of people there who had all found healing from terminal diseases.

After that, we saved every penny...so that we could go back there. Which we did, five years in a row. We experienced the same kind of euphoria, year after year. I still wonder if we had found a way to move there if Britton would've found healing too? I guess we'll never know.

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Throughout our vacations, we met some people that "the island" had healed. People with brain tumors, pancreatic cancer, liver failure...all kinds of things. It was fascinating. One thing we knew...Britton just felt better when we took him there. We all do. Maybe it's just because it's vacation, and we eat and sleep and stress way less? Or maybe it is something more? Something more spiritual or supernatural?

And speaking of supernatural...a few years later, Randy and I spent a few days in Sedona and we were discussing how strange we thought it was that Sedona was made of red dirt from volcanic eruptions. Because, of course, there are no volcanoes there now. We were just walking along the street, beside some stores, (the stores there often have all the doors open.) A woman came out a store. She apologized for "eavesdropping." But said she had a newspaper article she wanted us to read.

The newspaper was from 1978. Scientists had come to the city to find all the "energy vortexes" that supposedly exist in that area. (On a side note, if you go there now, energy vortexes are marked and you can walk through them to decide how/if it affects you.)

The article explained that the two strongest energy vortexes that have been measured by scientists on the earth...(at that time) were In Lihue, Kauai, and Sedonna, AZ. We just stood there in shock.

Things like that...they give me hope and remind me that God is all over the place. Sometimes we are drawn to a place or a person, because we feel their special energy...they change the atmosphere all around us. Suddenly, our shoulders relax, and the stress that had us in knots melts away.

The guide in Kauai took us to the top of the river, where a waterfall plunged over a hundred and fifty feet. He said it was all rain water..."straight from the heavens, from God to our island." (This is the place that inspired me to write the chapter in my book NO CHOICE, entitled FIZZY WATER. One of the best things I've ever written.)

I stood there staring at the pictures. Remembering those magical moments...wishing that we could take him back there someday. Let him step into that river and experience the healing and clarity he experienced 13 years ago.

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But when I remembered the guide's words. I was reminded that we don't have to travel to experience the "rain, straight from heaven." God is everywhere, and He is more than willing to bring the "rain of his presence into our lives...IF we are only willing to step outside the norm and jump into the river of his presence.

He is the creator of the earth...and it is His power, His presence, that creates the "energy vortexes" in our world. So maybe next time you feel like taking a detour, or a day off just to "do nothing." Maybe it's a gentle nudge to jump into a river. They say, "you never step into the same river twice."

But it is the river of His presence that changes us. It is the rivers that flow from heaven that make us new. It is the river of Spirit that flows in us, through us, and from us...that change not only us, but change the whole world. When you are having a day, and you're struggling to fit in. Remember,

"we come alive in the river!"

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I do have a new book coming out. It's got so many twists and turns my eyes are beginning to cross. It is such a fun story. I hope to keep you guessing. I went back through 100 reviews on my first book and realized that I write A LOT of suspense into all my fantasy novels.

This next book may lean towards the SUSPENSE genre? Maybe....

If you find yourself itching for a new book...consider The Chronicles of The Shadowlands...

You can find them here...