Advent Devotional by Caitlin DeSalvo
Luke 21:25-36
“Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know the kingdom of God is near.” (Luke 21:30-31)
Excerpt from the poem, “Right on Time,” by Ashley Hamm, co-founder of Dear NICU Mama: “My child’s worth can’t be contained in numbers, scales or charts, their essence and their beauty is found in their joy and in their heart. Every milestone they reach is a mountain they’ve had to climb, and as they reach each summit? I’ll say, “My love, you’re right on time.”
On March 20, 2020, we welcomed the most unexpected gift into our family when our youngest son, Archer Abbott DeSalvo, was born with a bilateral cleft lip and complete cleft palate; a diagnosis we weren’t aware of until his birth. There are many complexities, hurdles, and surgical procedures that children with clefts encounter in their lives. In his first 18 months of life, Archer had already endured three significant surgeries with challenging recoveries.
“Your son’s speech is significantly delayed,” they said. “After palate repair, we’ll watch him closely until he’s two.”
Just as Ashley mentions in her poem, “Right on Time,” every milestone Archer reached was a mountain he had to climb. Speech milestones loomed in front of us and it truly was an uphill battle up that mountain. Archer began speaking at around 15 months and by the time he was two years old only had 10 or so words that he could say. According to the Mayo Clinic, between the ages of two and three, most children speak in two-and-three-word phrases or sentences and use at least 200 words, but can say as many as 1,000 words. Now, at the age of two and a half, after months of working with a phenomenal speech and language pathologist, Archer can say hundreds of words and has just begun to put them into phrases and sentences.
I'd never realized just how much I take the gift of speech and language for granted. Each and every new word that Archer discovers is a gift. Each new word, like the leaves sprouting from the limbs of the fig tree, shows us just how near the kingdom of God is. That we’re that much closer to conquering another mountain. Each and every milestone mountain that Archer climbs and conquers reminds me that he’s right on time. For, just like the love of Christ, Archer’s worth can’t be measured in numbers, scales or charts. The Lord’s essence and beauty is found in the joy within the hearts of His followers.
Caitlin DeSalvo