BUTLER TWP — “Enjoy each day you are given,” Paul Thomas says sincerely.

Even before learning the two oldest of their four children are terminally ill with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Paul and his wife, Shannon, found reason to celebrate each sunrise.

But now as the township couple copes with the boys’ consistently shrinking motor skills, the family looks to the positive.

It’s their friends, family, faith and the children themselves that make each day worth relishing.

“You change how you live, but you don’t stop living,” says Shannon.

For example, family members nominated Shannon to contend in an Internet contest sponsored by the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association to win a van that could accommodate the scooter the couple’s oldest child, 12-year-old Isaac, needs to go to school.

“We’d rather be on the giving end ... the serving end,” says Paul, 40.

“We’re overwhelmed with gratefulness of everyone thinking to do this for us. That alone makes us feel very loved and supported.”

More than 1,000 people nationwide are competing in this contest, including other Butler County residents, according to spokesman Cheryl Parker.

Votes can be cast at www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/local-heroes/ until May 9. Four winners will be selected from the top vote-getters based, in part, on an essay entitled, “My hero” that was written about each contestant.

The essay about 37-year-old Shannon was written by her sister Julie Dutko of Georgia.

“Shannon and her husband, Paul, are blessed with an eternal perspective that comes with accepting God’s sovereignty in all situations. They are thankful for each new day that they have to spend with their sons. Please help change the daily life of this precious family,” Dutko wrote.

Paul, a chiropractor, met his wife when they were students at Indiana (Pa.) University. They wed in 2000, and Isaac was born two years later on April 4, 2002.

It wasn’t until Isaac was about 6 that the couple noted small differences between their child and his classmates. For example, their son could only jump with one foot instead of two. He ran a little slower than the other boys.

“And the last straw for me was watching him get on the school bus,” Shannon says. “Kindergarteners have trouble because that first step is so high and their legs are so small, but he really struggled.”

After a few doctor’s visits, Isaac was diagnosed with Duchenne.

“They dropped this bomb in our lap, gave us a pamphlet and sent us home,” Shannon says. “We weren’t expecting anything like that. He had met milestones as a baby.”

Children with Duchenne, almost completely boys, slowly lose their motor skills. Between ages 10 and 14, they will lose the ability to walk, followed by loss of upper body strength and the use of arms. Eventually the weakened body experiences difficulty breathing, poor heart conditions and the necessity of constant monitoring.

People with this disease generally do not live beyond their 20s, and there is no cure, Shannon Thomas’ sister wrote in nominating the family for the contest.

“Our world was shaken upside down,” Paul says. “At that time, we only had one other son and we thought we should have him tested to relieve any fears.”

Five months after Isaac’s diagnosis, the couple received the same diagnosis for then 5-year-old Jordan.

“You go into survival mode,” Shannon says of the family’s first reaction. “It’s too easy to get sucked down into self pity. Instead we jump up and help someone else. You don’t sit around and feel sorry for yourself, you get out there and live.”

Today the family deals with the children’s mobility issues, dietary changes and school-related accommodations.

“Isaac falls a lot and he cannot get up without help,” Paul says. “He needs help dressing, that sort of thing.”

Shannon, a substitute teacher who majored in special education, takes her children to McQuistion Elementary School each day, lifting them in and out of the car as they are unable to do this on their own. Isaac uses the motorized scooter at school, which Shannon dismantles to fit into her van and reassembles at the school. Isaac has recently been fitted for a wheelchair, and Jordan will need one soon.

They’ve added a chair lift to their home, and the family looks to more accessibility-related renovations in the future.

“You have to keep adjusting, whether it’s the furniture or how you go about your day,” Shannon said. “You have to adjust to a new normal.”

Still, the children are the light of the family’s life.

Isaac loves to play the piano, clarinet and video games.

“He’s a gamer,” his father said.

Jordan is an artist, drawing and painting. He annually designs the family’s Christmas cards.

The Thomases also have had two more blessings: Addison, 8, and Logan, 4.

Although Addison could be a carrier of the disease, neither of the two younger children have Duchenne.

Paul and Shannon say the family’s life has changed completely since learning the boys’ diagnosis. But some of those changes have been good.

For example, they have seen the goodness of others who have helped them out or made donations. And they’ve watched other children respond positively to the boys.

“If you are up front, kids will help other kids out,” Shannon says. “The worst thing to do is pretend like nothing is wrong.”

And, the couple says, the diagnosis has brought the family closer together.

“Our life has slowed down. We spend more time together as a family,” says Shannon. “It changes how you look at things and you re-evaluate what is important to you.”

Both Paul and Shannon say they believe everything that happens has a reason. The family attends the Bright Hope Community Church in Meridian.

“God is in control of all things,” Shannon says. “We’re just glad that we have a hope in Christ. That’s what gets us through each day. People who don’t know about the grace of God, I don’t know how they survive.”