Friday, October 28, 2011

Disability? OR NOT?

This morning I received this picture in my inbox:
And then a bit later, I received this one of her at the heater vent:


And both made my heart smile!

How could I not run home for lunch to see this little miracle?

Upon arrival, I noticed that a book we had ordered on sign language arrived so Lucy and I sat down and began to learn and practice signs together:

"Mama"
"Dada"
"Nana"
"Grandpa"
"Sissy"
"Brother"

On it went. Looking at the book, trying the sign and Lucy soaking up every minute.

Eventually Doug wandered in and he commented on the fact that Lucy can not turn her wrists or forearms like we can. When you go to give her soap in her hand, you have to physically turn her hand to get her arm to be palm up. So, we started to doing this to her. Turning her hands, trying to get her to straighten out her arms and twist her wrist.

Of course, before long Lucy was giggling like crazy and Doug and I were both smiling ear to ear.
I leaned in, kissed Lucy on the forehead, and said, "I love you!"

With all my heart I meant this. Here sits this little girl, with characteristics that many would call disabilities.
Abnormalities.
Disorders.
Faults.
Non-normal, atypical behavior.

And yet, I LOVE HER!

I do. More than words can express.
More than the faults on the outside.
More than the world's perception of her...

I LOVE HER! And to me, there is no disability. There is no abnormality. There is no fault.

There is just Lucy!

And then I said to Doug, "This has a blog post in it!"

You see, this is how we are to God.
We have faults. Insecurities. Abnormalities. Fears.
But He sees us as a BEAUTIFUL CREATION! As HIS creation! Created not to be kept full of faults and weaknesses and abnormalities...but created in HIS LIKENESS...to be BEAUTIFUL and FULL and LOVELY.
HE looks down on our weakness, our abnormality, our fears, our disability and says,

"COME TO ME!" and "IN ME YOU ARE MADE WHOLE!"

Ah...I love Lucy and what she is allowing us to glean about God!!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

9:59

Some weird things have been happening lately.
Not weird like plates falling off the shelves or doors closing without warning - that's movie type weird.

Weird like feeling such a heavy burden in my heart for the orphanage that I stop everything, mid getting dressed and ready for work, and just drop to my knees and pray for 15 minutes.

Weird like having a huge burden for a girl and a few days later having the sheer joy of leading her to the Lord.

Weird like praying for a friend, for a situation that within our eyes looked absolutely finished, closed - and then finding out that in fact there was an opening!

Just weird...

And then tonight...

Tonight I sat here wanting to blog. Wanting to get back into the mode of writing, recording thoughts, sharing daily life and reaching out to others.

But...total blank. Nothing coming. No thoughts to put down. No wonderous revelation.

And I looked at the clock and it said, "9:59".

9:59
9:59 p.m.

Hmm...I grabbed my Bible and wondered, "What could be written in every 9th chapter, 59th verse?"

Genesis...nothing
Exodus...nope, no 9:59
Leviticus: blank
Numbers...none there either

And so it went, on down the line...following my new silver and white Bible tabs...

searching, looking...chapter 9, verse 59...

nothing!
nothing!
nothing!

"Ok, maybe I am crazy. Maybe God wasn't using the clock to grab my attention."

But on I went...
Matthew...
Mark...
Luke...

and then...

John 9:59
"He said to another man, 'Follow me!' But the man replied, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father!"

HOLY SMOKES!  (sorry if that is a replacement word,  but wow!")

WEIRD...

You see, Christ is speaking here. Literally in the red letters in the Bible to the man, and literally to ME!

"FOLLOW ME!"
Right now Jen!
Don't get caught up in grief over your father! Don't cling to the idea that you will follow once your kids are older, or once your finances are better, or once you're more settled in your career.

DO IT NOW!
 Follow me now!
Don't delay. Don't hesitate. Don't stall!
Just follow!

John 9:59

The only chapter 9, verse 59 in the entire Bible!

Now that's a message!