When they saw the courage of Peter and John, and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13
Our lives, our dreams, our behaviors will all be changed by the walk we make as the parents of a disabled child: We will give up some friends, acquire others. We will stop thinking bad things happen only to other people. We will find new stresses and new challenges in our marriages, our work lives, our faith lives.
One transformation we must make – no matter the status of our faith walk the day our child’s troubles arrive — is that of letting Jesus change us. After he begins his work within us, we can never be the same.
Given your status — parent of a disabled child — people will be watching you for the rest of your life, in ways you might never imagine. Some will look upon you with pity. Some will look upon you with sympathy. Some will look upon you as an example of life’s unfair ways. Some will even whisper a silent prayer of thanks – grateful that your life is not theirs.
Virtually anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention will notice how you handle the challenges your child faces and those he brings into your life. If we take this journey with a disabled child, we must take care to make Jesus our companion, too. And in that walk with Him and our child, we must let Him transform us.
More than change one thing or another about us, Jesus Christ will transform our very nature. Once we accept Him, we can never be the same and others cannot help but notice including the witnesses we call son, daughter, husband, wife, friend, or foe. They will know by what they see and hear you are being rebuilt, remanufactured, transformed in ways that extend far beyond those that can be attributed solely to your child’s challenges.
Whether they ask questions of you that make it clear they see the difference, or whether they simply observe in silence, with their thoughts gone unspoken, they will notice. And you, by letting Christ have his way with your heart, your spirit, and your soul, will live as evidence of his transforming grace and power.
They’ll be unable to avoid seeing it. So, too, the observer you call son or daughter.
