31 Days of Restoration: COMPASSION

It irritates me ever so slightly when people come up to me and ask, “What happened to him?  Is there something I can do to help?” They are referring to Malachi.  They see all of the tubes, his ventilator and his wheelchair- it’s a lot to take in, I suppose…. I want to shield his heart – and mine too.  I want to protect him from what I perceive as misunderstanding, pity or judgment. And I sometimes feel like I have to make everything okay for the curious stranger. So, I stand on guard by his side with a fixed smile upon my face and a frown upon my brow WILLING them to see that Malachi is a beautiful blessing and not a burden; WILLING them to stand in Malachi’s shoes; WILLING them to walk away in awe, instead of sorrow…..

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us all in our tribulations that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”  2 Corinthians 1: 3-4

The word of God calls for the believers to be a compassionate people.  “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”  Galatians 6:2   That means more than simply feeling empathetic to someone’s suffering or hardship, but more importantly, being motivated to help them.   The compulsion to help comes from the heart, not the mind.  If we believe that God is at the center of the heart, then we are open to accept another person’s intent as heart-felt, genuine, care and concern.  Perception is not fact; it’s based on thought or intuition.  What we often perceive as pity or judgment is our own fear of what others may think; we project that fear unto others. Compassion, on the other hand, is a gift sewn into the heart of man by God, modeled by Jesus Christ and summoned by the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER OF RESTORATION:  Search me, O Lord and if you find anything not resembling you,  cast it out of my spirit.   Mend my heart, O Lord, that I may receive others’ good intentions as love and kindness.  Renew a right spirit in me that your light may shine in the forefront of my heart forever more.  Amen!

The Children Who Could Fly.

Five Minute Friday: Fly

Fly by the seat of your pants today and WRITE for 5 minutes. Get in your quiet space, grab your journal and pen and write what's in your spirit. Post your masterpiece here and don't forget to share the love with the artist who linked up before you.  One love :)  Peace & Blessings and happy Friday!

One day,

in a place where there is

Life After Breath,

they will run-

without a thought in their mind,

without a care in their spirit,

without a fear in in their heart;

they will run,

wild & free.

           

Like a 747

gliding down the runway

slowly gathering momentum,

then

faster 

and 

faster,

heart pounding,

while deep,belly-laughter tickles the

soul 

with 

unspeakable

  joy....

They run.

And after all of that running,

with the strength of Sampson

in their legs,

they will rise up

     FREE.

Free from frowns and frustration,

Free from the splints, braces and chairs

that once bound them….

Free

 to take a gallant leap forward,

spread their wings 

and

fly.

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."  Isaiah 40:31

* loosely based on The People Who Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton

Picture Perfect!

 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8: 38-39

Well, the presidential election is over and there is much to comment on – still..  The commentary that is closest to my heart rest not in the politics, but in the pictures of our beloved first family.  A picture is a powerful image frozen in time; it is framed emotional memory that has the power to stoke all five senses.  A picture can never depreciate its value to its beholden. I have rather enjoyed sifting through photos of the Obama family during the election cycle.  It’s offered me a glimpse into their lives and into the heart of who they are as a family.  Flipping through photos of the first family makes me think about my own family photos.  I wonder what the outside world sees, feels and thinks when they look at pictures of my family. I think that pictures convey very powerful messages.  Sometimes those messages are intentional, sometimes not, but always left to the interpretation of the viewer.  When I look at the Obama family photos, to me those photos say, “together we are a strong, close and loving family; our bond is cemented in the secure love that we share.”  Even in their “unscripted” photos, I observe that one of the first family’s strongest languages of love is physical touch; they express love towards one another through touching – i.e. holding hands, arms around waist, hugging, head-on-shoulder, etc....  If I had to caption my own family photo it would say, “...nothing can separate us from the love of God.”  I chose that caption because disability has made several attempts at wreaking havoc in my family’s life, yet we have prevailed.  As I look back over my life in family photos, I remember the humbling beginning of our journey with disability.  I remember being camera-shy about exposing my “different” family to the world; I feared an unwelcome reception.  Going public with disability was not easy for my family.  Often, I felt stares and side-eye glances upon us.  And what was meant to be a whisper was audibly, and painfully, loud.  But in some ways, I suppose going public through pictures may be worse, for you can only assume what people are saying about you and your family.  In the early days of disability, I took great care to hide Malachi’s life-sustaining equipment from the watchful eye of the camera.  I tried to carefully tuck away the huge oxygen tank that sat in the corner of his room mocking me.  I tried to distract the camera’s eye from the ventilator tubing that coiled and hissed endlessly like a snake.  And I tried to perfectly prop Malachi up as if his scoliosis were invisible.  Let me tell you, it’s exhausting and frustrating trying to hide from your own reality!  And then one day I released it; I just let it go.  I decided, why hide?  It is what it is and we are, undeniably, who we are.  Regardless, people will make their own deductions and assumptions about our family with or without a photo.  What’s the point of worrying and hiding?  We just need to show up and be our most authentic, dazzling selves! 

How we show up in photos is how we show up in real life.  I am so grateful that my family and I have grown to the place of no longer feeling vulnerable in front of the camera.  I think that growth is a result of accepting that we are made in the image of God!  God sees the beauty of our uniqueness because after all, He did create it.  And because we are made in His image, we are a picture perfect family!

 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How would you caption your family photo?