Hello, my name is Aletha Odneal and I live with my family in Boonville Missouri. My husband, Keith and I have two children, Mallory age 13 and Christopher, who is 11.

I was raised in a small town and went to a country church, The Otterville Presbyterian Church, so at a very young age I came to know the Lord and fortunate enough to be raised in a Christian home. My husband was raised in a Southern Baptist Home and also came to know the Lord at a very small age. Unfortunately we do not practice our faith enough. After our marriage we never decided which faith we would raise our family so we did the unfortunate thing …Nothing. However our daughter does go faithfully to church with her grandmother and has considered being baptised and it has given me great inspiration to find a church where at least she and I can go together and take Christopher. A doctor once told me that I really needed a good church home and a strong prayer group for Christopher and sometimes we have to wait for a bump on the head to realize that we really do need the Lord for all kinds of support. So please pray that we will find a church home soon where we may all grow together.

You see, Christopher has Cerebral Palsy. He is such a joy, so happy all the time. He has no worries with life in general and is very comfortable with the daily caregivers that he has outside our family. He is not self-abusive or loud at all and, although he has no speech we have learned from his facial expressions and through him reaching for things what his needs are. The greatest blessing is that he is almost walking after 11 years of packing him around. I always tell people that if everyone had his personality it would be a great world to live in. He goes to bed smiling and wakes up smiling and what a joy that is.

We have been in and out of many children's hospitals and so we have been exposed to many of the different disabilities. I am also on the board of directors for our local Handicapped workshop. I try to stay very involved and up to date with things - it's just such a fast paced world that we cannot afford to get behind. However I do work about 48 hours a week as a cosmetologist and my husband Keith is in construction so we have a personal assistant, Sherri, for about 20 hours a week to help with Chris in the evenings and that is a huge help. He really likes her and she does very well with him. They are working on self-feeding skills and bathing and walking and Chris has greatly improved in all of those areas in the last year. He is always the sunshine even when is gloomy outside.

Just like every other child, Christopher is God's child and I know that he will, one day, be resurrected with a perfect body just the way it is described in 1 Corinthians 15:52-54 because he is the most sinless person I know. It is as though he doesn't have that knowledge of good and evil that Satan tempted Adam and Eve into acquiring when they ate the fruit.

Before I close there is one small verse about Faith that an older client of mine gave me right after Chris was born and I read and repeat it often.

"Faith is knowing when the light fades and darkness descends, that the first step into darkness means we will step onto something firm or we will learn to fly."

I came to realize that God gave Christopher to me for a purpose and there are days that I still struggle with that but it soon passes when he smiles that sweet smile even when I'm sad. He knows just when to smile. We pray every day that he will be able to function and help take care of himself someday but other's prayers are always welcome. Once again I appreciate your concern and, you know, I try not to ask God, "Why me?" and then there are days when I see Christopher smile at me and then I usually know why. I'm sending you some of my favourite verses. I hope they will help you to understand "why" also.

Heaven's Very Special Child
A meeting was held quite far from earth,
"It's time for another birth,"
Said the Angels to the Lord above,
"This special child will need much love.
His progress may seem very slow,
Accomplishments it may not show,
And it'll require extra care
From the folks it meets way down there.
So let's be careful where it's sent:
We want its life to be content:
Please Lord, find parents and teachers who
Will do a special Job for you.
They will not realize right away
The leading role they're asked to play,
But with this child sent from above
Comes stronger faith and richer love.
And soon they'll know the privilege given
In caring for this gift from Heaven;
Their precious charge, so meek and mild,
Is Heaven's Very Special Child.