In the midst of all we had going on with the newness of understanding we had a child with special needs: the emotions, the changes, the challenges, the sleepless nights, anger, worry, sadness, grief, joy, fun, tough times, hope for a healing, we heard something like this, “BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. This is a test. This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is only a test. Had it been a real emergency, you would have been instructed what to do.”
When the shrieking beep on the radio or TV gets our attention, we stop for a moment, making sure it’s only a test, and then go about our usual course of business. But what happens if it’s not a test and a real life situation is happening? We’d better be listening! We stop, look, and listen for what to do next!
God got our attention. Instead of a blaring warning, weather crisis or national security issue, He sent us Joey. He reminded us, like unpredictable weather, such is life. And life is not always fair. God clearly had our attention! We couldn’t ignore, neglect, negate, delete, or otherwise change that Joey was in our life and that God was clearly challenging us to respond to Him.
In many ways we felt it was through the testing that we could remain tried and true to that which the Lord called us. Job (Job 1:21) said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job continued to be faithful to God but he lost everything. Could we respond as Job did?
- Could we take it by faith that this was the work of the Lord?
- What if we can’t handle this?
- Will this fear paralyze us?
- What if this is where God has called us to serve for a time or for the rest of our lives?
We doubted, cried, and had bouts of deep discouragement as we begged the Lord through prayer for a healing. Then slowly, when no healing was coming, when only slow progress was made, we began to think differently. In times of crisis, we find out who we are, who our close family and friends are, and how we’re going to make it through whatever the difficulty. We looked to God to comfort us and asked Him for explanation. Our thoughts began to change. It changed from
- “Why did this happen to us” to
- “Why did this happen to him?” to
- “How will we honor the Lord through caring for Joey?”
Adjusting to any type of challenge is difficult for the one facing it. We had no choice but to be flexible because doing so was necessary in every facet of our life. And we learned, that when one of us was ready to quit, the other had just the right thing to say or enough energy to “see it through,” which was an encouragement to persevere. We began to work as a TEAM…..Together Each Accomplished More. Today might be your day to start this part of your unexpected journey….as a team….together….and we’re confidant you will past that test!
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