(Day four of the November Joy Dare)
12. Gathering the laundry every Monday and Friday! :) I love having clean clothes. 
14. This good essay written by one of my family members! :)
There are a total
of 1.9 billion children in the world; out of that large number, one-hundred-fifty
million are disabled. A disability can mean a physical or mental challenge. It
has a wide range of categories such as down-syndrome and many different forms
of autism. Many children with disabilities are born that way; although many
have also gone through accidents or sicknesses and never recovered. It is very
hard for a parent to take care of a disabled child, which sometimes causes
parents to neglect them or worse. These children show a lot of weakness, but
God uses them in a very special way!
In a generation or
two Europe will have a perfect society, no disabled or handicapped children
among them. Already there are very few disabled there. This is not because of
coincidence but purely the sinful nature of man. Man has ignored God’s plan for
families; we have exchanged the pure joy of having a family handpicked by God
for the assurance of being able to have a mentally and physically perfect
family. Some families choose life for their disabled children, yet they put
them up for adoption.
It is very hard to
adopt a disabled child, but Jesus said in Leviticus 19:14 “Thou shalt not curse
the deaf, nor put a
stumbling block before the blind,
but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord.”
Jesus urges us to take care of the disabled. We have the responsibility
to love the unloved and to want the unwanted. You don’t have to take care of or
adopt a physically or mentally ill child to make a difference, you can just
simply take the time to appreciate them and talk to them even if they can’t
talk to you. You can be a beacon of light to them even just by not ignoring
them. Give them hugs and ask them questions.
I am very
passionate about this topic, because there are so many children and even
teenagers around us that are looked down upon because of their differences.
Many people have seen it firsthand. I
knew a girl with down-syndrome that was always often ridiculed. Sadly, not once
did I defend her, but looking back I know I should have. These children show us
their complete love and affection. Can we not give them the same in return?
God places
disabled children in our life to remind us of our relationship with him. All we
can give God is our love; in the same way all that disabled children can offer
us is their love. Although these children are very fragile, they show us how to
look past each other’s weaknesses and look into hearts. Disabled people have
such simple faith and often teach us very important lessons. However, we must
realize that they are humans too and need friends and encouragement.
~~