"Normal" and "Special"

First of all let me say that I am really busy this morning packing to go to Red Springs because we have to leave today. So, I kept thinking I didn't have time to blog. But I have a lot weighing really heavy on my mind this morning and I feel like I need to write it all down. It helps me so much to look back at posts like this and the Lord just keeps telling me to do this so here I go.

Sallie has been so defiant lately and discipline is getting much harder with her. Not so much that we don't want to discipline her but that maybe our approach is not working. It's hard. The older she gets the harder a lot of issues are becoming. I feel the weight of the world concerning educating her. I feel the weight of the world concerning where she fits in here and where she fits in there. I feel the weight of the world because I am tired of her being looked at so differently. I just feel the weight of the WORLD!

But today my perspective has changed some. My cousin Cindy is carrying her second baby-a baby boy and they have found that there is a chromosomal issue. My heart is so heavy for them. So because I have them and their situation on my mind I keep thinking so much about "normal" and "special". I keep thinking about how it is truly amazing that in development it all comes together as much as it does but the reality is that it often does not all come together the way science tells us it should. "Normal" and "Special" are words the WORLD has created. God created each and every one of us and our identities are in HIM, not the WORLD. Why does He allow some children (and their parents) to have to endure hardships, why does He allow some children to only live for a short time? I don't know the answer to these questions but I do know that God uses each and every one for a purpose. The question for myself is why do I allow the WORLD's view to identify my child. I hear adults making fun of those who are "special" and it blows my mind! I hear things like "the short bus" and it is so hurtful. Can we not see that we are all God's creation, can we not see that those children go through more than most of us can imagine, can we not see that there are parents of those children who hurt everyday for those children? At the same time there are those who embrace those children yet they just don't really know what to do or how to do it and I understand that. Do I still have to deal with the WORLD and their views on "special"? Unfortunately, yes but I hope that I remember that there is only ONE who matters and HE MADE US ALL!

Your prayers for Cindy and her husband Dodd are greatly appreciated. Their faith is very strong and for that I am so thankful.