John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.”
I recently read a story about a man named Bob who was the dad of an eleven year old autistic boy whose name was Christopher. Bob had gone to his son’s back to school night and Christopher had done a project that was displayed on the wall. There were cute little cards that all the kids in Christopher’s class had filled out and they were asked to list their favorite foods, sports, TV shows, etc. When Bob looked at his son’s questions and answers, something stood out. When asked to list his friends, Christopher had written “no one.” Never had five letters ever cut so deep and Bob’s heart broke for his little boy who seemed to draw a lot of attention to himself because he would spontaneously flap his arms and make loud guttural sounds from time to time, but didn’t have any friends. It wasn’t that his classmates were cruel, it’s just that the other kids never really included Christopher. There were no sleepovers, there were no play dates, there were no friends knocking on the door asking Christopher to come out and play. When I read this story, I cried because I knew how Bob felt. Bob was telling his story because he wanted other moms and dads to be aware of this divide and to talk to their own “typical” children about kids with special needs and because it was so painstakingly obvious that Christopher wanted friends, but he was excluded.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 says, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” I have always loved this scripture because God does not consider human wisdom as anything great or lofty, as a matter of fact, he does not choose those whom the world considers wise and noble, His wisdom is revealed to the foolish, the weak and the common, those considered lowly and less than by the elite. God clearly receives all the credit and the glory when His eternal truths of His kingdom are revealed in the lowly and the despised people of this world. I have always believed that my disabled child was the closest thing to perfection in humanity. The light that radiated from Elisha’s eyes and heart reflected perfect, uninhibited absolute love for every one he came in contact with, and yet there were so many that never saw his beauty, never saw that perfection and frankly, there were so many who never even stopped to notice him.
One thing that struck me in Bob’s story, which was the same story as mine, is that the ones who were the most curious about Elisha were little children. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been out in public and I overhear a child say to his mother, “What’s wrong with that little boy, Mama?” or “Why is he in that chair?” And so often the mother will shush her little one and say, “It’s not polite to stare.” When I overhear such nonsense, I always address the child who is asking and I say, “This is Elisha and he can hear you, but he can’t answer you because he’s non-verbal and he’s disabled and he has a hard time walking.” And always, almost always, that child will light up and walk up to my son, and touch him and in return Elisha will always give a hug. I love these exchanges because it reminds me of my Father in Heaven, who chose me from the beginning of time, and I belong to Him. And then, to top it off, He gave me the most amazing child on the face of the earth, who represented His perfect and divine love, His very nature with skin on, the disabled. How cool is that?
Happy 31st birthday in Heaven, my beautiful boy.
I miss you like crazy and can’t wait to see you one day.
Love, Momma
