I recall in the past decade many times going to church only to see my husband run after my son outside the church, while I wait and wait. We never listened to any message. We just existed physically at that place, but neither we nor our children benefited from that experience. None offered any help too, even family members unfortunately! That was a scar that we never expressed. We learned that having a special boy is our issue and burden. But the past few years, God had led us as a family to a church that was willing to learn and to give us what we needed. That created a passion within me to see more families enjoy what we have, and to change the mindset of churches and cultures in that regard. Here’s a paragraph I read written by Amy Fenton Lee that I would like to share: THE CHILD CAN ENJOY CHURCH No one enjoys working on things that are hard for him or her. And that’s no different for a child with special needs. So often, these kids already have spent long hours in educational and therapeutic settings being pushed to catch up to their typical peers. And that may be necessary for the child. But let Sundays be for rest and worship. In fact, that’s Biblical! “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it, you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter” (Exodus 20:8-11) The educational and therapeutic settings are all about achievement. But that isn’t what a relationship with Jesus Christ all about. He loves us exactly as we are and He wants a relationship with us regardless of our performance. And it is important that Special Needs volunteers model that kind of relationship for participants with special needs. Often that requires a concrete explanation to grasp an abstract concept.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 04:04:33 +0000
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