Today's Devotional Thought
November 01, 2012 by Rachel Piferi
Special Needs, Special God
On Saturday, my family and friends will walk in the 2012 Kidney Walk, sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation. This is the first time I have participated in a charity walk for a cause that is this close to me. I am very excited, but I have to admit I am struggling a bit today with it also.
Earlier this week, our team t-shirts arrived in the mail. We have names ourselves Team Isabella since we are walking for my precious 4 year old girl who has kidney disease. On the front of the shirt is our team name and on the back it says, "I believe in miracles! (just ask me about it!)" Just this morning, I saw my son's shirt on his bed all ready for this weekend's walk and I began to cry. I started to remember the stories from other teams that I had read online and thinking about our own journey so far. I started thinking about the pile of Halloween candy that is divided into chocolate and non-chocolate (a ritual we started this year because Isabella cannot eat chocolate as part of her special diet). And I started thinking about the special needs and medical treatments that await someone with kidney disease. I am very excited to be participating in this walk, but my heart has also been very heavy as things like this walk remind me of the reality that we are living.
And, I started feeling sad that my daughter has special needs.
As those emotions swarmed my heart and those thoughts entered my head, I heard God whisper tenderly into my soul, "She may have special needs, but I am a very special God."
Whew. Don't you just love when God does that? I know I do. I just love when he sweeps into the broken places of our souls and reminds us that he is mighty. Reminds us that he is present. Reminds us that he is in control. Reminds us that he sees our hurts and fears and wants to comfort them.
And he is right {I know, of course he's right, he's God.}...you see, Isabella's special needs have allowed me to experience such special things in my life. They have allowed me experience a very special God.
Having a group of people walk with us this weekend, showing their love and support of Isabella. That is so special to me.
Being pregnant with Isabella and the precious people who surrounded us in prayer and love and walked that piece of the journey with us. So very special to me.
Being able to minister to other women who are going through exactly what I have been through with Isabella. So very special to me.
Going to appointments at the Children's Hospital and meeting the amazing doctors and nurses who work with and love on children who are ill. So very special to me.
And having God whisper into the anxiety and sadness I am feeling while I am making my son's bed. Indescribably special to me.
I am learning that when you have a child with special needs, you have a special opportunity to see the mighty work of God. You get unique opportunities to feel God's presence, to see God's love in other people, to receive God's provision through the generosity and gifts of others, and to minister to others out of all of your special experiences.
So today, while I am struggling a bit with the special needs that my daughter has, I am also so powerfully reminded of the amazing gift she is and the amazing opportunities to experience God that I have been given because of her special needs.
Special situations reveal our very special God. Let him reveal himself today in your needs and I guarantee that you will be amazed at how truly spectacular he is.
December