Every person

Do we believe this? Do we really think that every person God puts in our lives are part of a perfect preparation for the future, or do we sometimes, at best, think that we can be used to help their lives but not the other way around. How can we change that? How can our lives show the genuine belief that everyone God puts in our life is for a purpose!

Do we seek to see His signature in their lives?

Same Dreams

In a book I am reading the author states, “This may be the most extraordinary mark of the Spirit of God within the heart of humanity: the freedom to live out dreams greater than ourselves.”

To me this quote means that because of Him, we are able to have dreams that, as another one of my favorite authors once wrote, “are destined to fail without God intervention.” Because of Him, we are able to dream big dreams. We are able to dream of His kingdom coming. We are able to dream of His love, hope, comfort, joy, strength, and so much more, reaching those in need. We are able to dream of lives lived where He is enough.

Everyone dreams. Everyone wants more. At least in my little experience, I have found this to be true. This isn’t always in a greedy way.  Many simply want more from their lives, they don’t want to waste it, they want to live fully for Him, and they want to pursue dreams bigger than themselves. I think this is a beautiful and noble thing. And I think it is for everyone, but sometimes, I wonder if we really believe that.

We dream the impossible, but find hope, even in our weakness and inability, because of Him. Why would this be any different for those with disabilities? Why wouldn’t God use them with their inabilities the same way He uses us in our inabilities? I often just wish that we would stop thinking that they are somehow incapable of so much. Sure, they often can’t do many things “we” can, but that doesn’t mean it’s always the case. I guess I just wish we would share the same hope and belief for them and their dreams, as we would for ourselves.

This week I met with one of my friends who suffered from some seizures and now has some mental disabilities. It happened to be her birthday this week and as we talked she shared of her dream to one day be married and raise a family of her own. She turned 36 and so she also shared her fear of how she is getting older, and she wonders if she ever will. I guess it is a little different since I am only 21, but seeing as I have never even dated, I have for sure shared the same fear! Except if I were to share this fear, I would right away be told that that isn’t the case, and that God has someone for me. I wonder though, if everyone would do the same for her, or would they at best say, maybe?

I don’t know if she ever will, and I know that many would even argue that she shouldn’t. But as she shared, I saw how this wasn’t just some selfish dream. This friend of mine is so full of love, and so eager to share that love and care for others. This is a dream bigger than herself, and one that she has prayed out to God. It’s a dream just like mine, and so my hope is that we would all agree with her freedom to truly dream in this way, and not see it as unattainable just because of her inabilities. I hope one day, that we will not look at others for who they are to the world, but who they are to and because of Christ.

Taught to accept?

Saw this and it just seemed to go with my last post! Do you think this is true of people with disabilities? Maybe its not a hate/love thing, but there is definitely a tension. Acceptance, equality in the way we view them verses others? But is this taught? Is it learned from watching others treat those with disabilities differently? Can it be unlearned? We have have an unlearn week at my school that tries to teach away some racial stereotypes. Can this be done in regards to disabilities?

I Have a Dream

I recently read an article that shared about the “we-they” barrier we still have in regards to those with disabilities. It made me wonder if that was a barrier we could overcome, and for some reason it made me think of the civil rights movement. I know that was a “we-they” barrier that this country has fought long and hard to overcome, and so maybe it came to mind to give me hope. Looking back, it seems obvious that black or white, we were all created equal. It seems silly that we could have ever thought that the color of one’s skin would be the reason that they were in some way less, and yet do we make these “silly” assumptions in regards to those with disabilities? Maybe it’s different. Maybe this is an unfair comparison, but I also think in many ways it’s not at all. I look at MLK’s speech where he states, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." And I think has it? Maybe for those of color, but do we really consider ALL men equal? Do our interactions and instant thoughts when we see those with disabilities suggest that? To me it seems, especially in regards to our immediate thoughts, that we are a long way off from ever achieving that. I mean I know I have my stereotypes that pop up even though I wish I could rid myself of them, and I am trying to be intentionally about losing them! So yes this question of, can we overcome this barrier, is daunting, but I am sure it looked pretty daunting at the start of the civil rights movement, and so I do take hope. And I do have a dream that one day a generation will be born into a world where they aren’t taught the stereotypes of those with disabilities, and are honestly able to look at those with disabilities as people just like them! The article that started me thinking about all of this, was entitled, What Shall We Call “Them”? The Issue of Labels and Categories, and it concluded with the decision that they should be categorized as “us,” that first and foremost, they are “people—human beings just like us.” I have a dream that one day there will be no more “we-they”s in the world; that there will just be “us.”