PS. LDS General Conference is available online today and tomorrow at 10 AM and 2 PM. I'll be on a plane heading home during the afternoon session. I can't wait to hear every minute of it!
Today's entry was previously posted in October 2006.
I’m so embarrassed. Several months ago, the babes noticed a woman pushing a severely handicapped boy in a wheel-chair. This boy was mentally challenged, as well as physically. The loud sounds that he was making and his physical appearance were blatantly different. His noises caught the attention of the babes instantly and they began to snicker, thinking that the boy was being funny on purpose. Fortunately, the mother did not see or hear their reaction.
I took them straight outside to the van and gently explained to them that this little boy was one of Heavenly Father’s most special children. As I told them, I remember that tears filled my eyes (as they do now when I think of it). I explained that sometimes Heavenly Father allows people to be born with these special challenges and that part of our test is how we treat them. We discussed that we never make fun or light of their bodies because those bodies are guaranteed to go straight back to heaven. They are most special. We talked about how many of those bodies are imperfect with minds just as sharp and smart as we are, but their body has no way to communicate their feelings and thoughts. So, if anyone is being unkind or mean to them, they can be truly hurt because they are aware of the teasing. The babes captured it completely. Since then, we’ve had several opportunities to see children like this, including one little boy in Quayd’s Cub Scout Pack. They’ve been wonderful to be friendly and kind to say hello, to never stare or talk about them in their presence. If they have questions, they know to ask later. Okey dokey. THAT said....
Today, I had to run into Wal-mart. (I hate Wal-mart. But, that has nothing to do with this story.) Liza, the babes and I were in the lightbulb aisle when a girl was being pushed toward us in a wheel. I noticed her foot was covered in a bright yellow plastic sock-looking thing. I immediately assumed that this was some new snazzy surgical sock. I said to the babes and being friendly to the girl, "Hey, look at her cool yellow foot!" The girl’s quick response, "Yep, and I even have a cool knee with hearts on it too!" as she lifted her pants leg and showed us her artificial leg! My heart skipped a beat! NEVER would I have said this, had I realized that this was an artificial limb! NEVER in a gazillion years!
And then, as only Gracie could, "Hey! You don’t have a real leg! What happened to your leg? Were your born with that? Did you used to have a leg?" Her questions would not stop until the girl said, "No, I had a leg when I was born but I had to have surgery and I got an infection and then I got this leg." Gracie became very sober as we walked away and said, "Mama, her leg is worse than my stitch." (Gracie calls her recent appendectomy her "stitch". When someone else gets a boo-boo, she compares it to her stitch. Hers is always the worst "stitch" ever.) She was humbled by this. As we walked away, she said, "Mama, is she one of the special ones?"
Later, Liza said, "MOM! I can NOT believe you just said that!" I felt so lame! I truly thought it was a real foot with a cool sock! She was in a wheel chair, for Pete’s sake. I’d never have said that it to make her feel bad! I felt awful!! When I shared the experience with Doug, he was glad that Gracie had realized that there were worst things than her "stitch", that she was sympathetic to someone with a worse situation than her own, that the girl had responded so kindly. This was one of my more embarrassing moments, but it was worth it. It was a humbling opportunity for a lesson to be learned. It was a great reminder to look at another person's challenges with respect and concern. It gave us each a chance today to reflect on and appreciate our own healthy bodies, as well as our own challenges (aches and pains included), no matter what they are! After all, we're all special ones! Enough said.
Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you,
they're supposed to help you discover who you are.
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