Fringe: My Life as a Spirit-Filled Christian with Asperger's Syndrome
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About this ebook
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
So begins the journey for Stephanie Mayberry in "Fringe: My Life as a Spirit-Filled Christian with Asperger's Syndrome."
This is a first person account of one woman's relationship with God as He allows her to break through the barriers of Asperger's Syndrome (a form of autism). Within these pages she will welcome you into her world and share with you not only a powerful witness to God's power and glory, but also precious insight into the "Aspie" mind.
Though written with the intent of witnessing to others on the autism spectrum, "Fringe" has touched many lives of people, from families touched by autism to spouses with an Aspie partner to even those who have no contact with autism at all. There is something for everyone here.
You will be blessed.
Stephanie A. Mayberry
Stephanie A. Mayberry is a freelance writer and author who has written several books on several modern day topics from a faith based perspective including Autism and Asperger's, Domestic Violence and Abuse, and Depression. She maintains the blog "The Christian Aspie" and has a Facebook group "Autism and the Holy Ghost."
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Reviews for Fringe
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- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Awakens your spirit, and it's eyes and ears! Helps more than just aspis.
Book preview
Fringe - Stephanie A. Mayberry
Fringe
My Life as a Spirit-Filled Christian with Asperger’s Syndrome
by
Stephanie Mayberry
SMASHWORDS EDITION
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Stephanie Mayberry on Smashwords
Fringe
My Life as a Spirit-Filled Christian with Asperger’s Syndrome
Copyright © 2010 by Stephanie Mayberry
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This free ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please direct them to smashwords.com or download an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
*****
Table of Contents
Before we get Started
Introduction
Why Fringe?
Asperger’s and Me
People
Showing God to Others
God’s Gift of Animals
Music, Light and Colors
My History
Peace and Hope and Miracles
Prayer
Touching God
The Storms
On Being Content
On Forgiveness
Being the Fringe
Going to Heaven .
*****
*****
Acknowledgements
I want to especially thank my best friend who also happens to be my husband. CW, you are most definitely one of the most beautiful, special, wonderful gifts God has ever given me. I am so very blessed to have you in my life. You have changed my life in so many ways. You give me a safe place to hide when the world is just too much, you listen, even when I go on and on, you appreciate my honesty and give me the honesty that I so desperately need. You are my guide, my leader, my friend, my partner, my prayer partner, my protector and my love. Without you, I doubt I would have had the courage to put this on paper. Without you, I would not be in our wonderful church. Without you, I would have never realized the glorious blessing that God bestowed upon me when He brought you into my life. I thank Him every day for bringing you to me.
I love you.
Stephanie Mayberry
*****
Before we get Started
It is not an accident that you are reading this. It was not a fluke that led you to pick up this book and begin reading these words. No, God has something to say to YOU and He led you here. It doesn’t matter if you believe or not, God still works in your life. Even if you don’t believe in His almighty power, He will still speak to you in whatever way you understand. All you have to do is listen.
Maybe today you didn’t realize that you were listening, but here you are! And God has given me a message, a message just for you. Now you may be thinking, She’s crazy! Many people will read this book. How can the message be just for me?
or you may think that because I have Asperger’s that I can’t possibly understand or communicate the message that God has given me. But all that doesn’t matter.
It is simple, really. When God speaks, even to many, even to people who have challenges like mine, whose brain is different, each person hears the individual message – exactly what God wants each individual, special person to hear.
This is the TRUTH. You can’t change the truth or manipulate it to fit what you want to believe or what you want it to be. The truth is the truth and that is all there is to it. Please remember that as you read this.
My husband said that when he read this, he laughed out loud in some places. I want you to know that that is OK. People often think I am amusing, even when I don’t mean to be (especially then) so I just smile or laugh with them (even though I have no idea why I am laughing – my husband usually explains later). Laughter is good. It creates a good attitude which can bring about acceptance of our differences So if something is funny, laugh.
So people say I should tell you about myself before we really begin. That is hard. I don’t know where to start – or where to stop.
Back to Table of Contents
*****
Introduction
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16
Most books that I have read that are nonfiction have an introduction. The people who have helped me learn how to be more adept at social interactions told me that I should introduce myself before I talk to people. They say I should let them know a little about me before I really talk to them because it helps them understand me and believe in me.
Anyway, this is my introduction. My name is Stephanie Mayberry. I grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana but now I live in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. There has been a lot that has happened in my life, but they also said I don’t have to tell everything, just the parts that are relevant to what I am writing here.
So, I think the two most important things you need to know about me (maybe the only things you need to know for this book) are 1) I am a spirit-filled (Apostolic or Pentecostal to be exact) Christian and I love Jesus with my whole heart, and 2) I have Asperger’s Syndrome. Asperger’s (AS) is a form of autism. Some doctors call it an invisible disability
because I don’t limp and I am not disfigured, but I have some difficult challenges just the same.
To look at me, you wouldn’t think anything was different about me probably. I look like everyone else. When I talk to people, I can usually do a pretty good job of seeming normal because I took a lot of courses in high school and college that taught me the technical aspects of communication (even though back then I did not know that my difficulty was because I have Asperger’s). I have studied sociology and psychology as well. I just want to fit in – but I never have. See, most people with Asperger’s have limited social functioning. I don’t have the emotional element that most people have, especially when I am talking to someone. I don’t get hints, don’t understand what they call social nuances
(I say the term, but even still do not know