Monday, May 18, 2009

More than I can handle

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

I think 1 Corinthians 10:13 is one of the most misquoted scriptures ever, and yes I am guilty of misquoting it as well... "God will never give us more than we can handle." Yes, God will never let us be tempted beyond what we can handle, meaning there is always a way out. But when it comes to more than we can handle...that is never something we should think we have to bare on our own.
Frankly, everyday is more than I can handle. I was made with the need for Him and made to lean on Him, made to cast my cares on Him.
Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you
1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.

I'm so grateful that He didn't just create us and leave us here to fend for ourselves. I'm glad that He wants to be actively involved in my day to day life. All we have to do is ask. In fact, Gracie's situation is so much bigger than me that in some ways I think it's actually easier to give it to Him and say, "Help"! It's the small issues that I think I have some sort of control over that are actually more difficult to yield. What's amazing to me is the way He lightens my load. He sends me amazing friends who call at just the right time, who listen, and cry and laugh with me. He sends me emails from people that have experienced similar things with encouragement and knowledge. He listens to prayers of dear friends who spend the time to care about us and our kids. He loves me so much that He cares to meet the needs, I don't even know I have yet.
It's too much, it's the most amazing love I have and will ever experience. I mean He died for us, so that we could have the hope of heaven, and getting out of this crazy, sad world. And as if He needed to give beyond that, He does. Crazy love.
One of the emails I received this week had a great little poem about the special needs child and I thought I would share it. I have to say, I'm glad we are in Holland...

"Welcome to Holland"

By Emily Perl Kingsley, 1987. All rights reserved.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This poem and many many more like it are in the book Chicken Soup for Your soul - Children with Special Needs. It is a MUST read even if you aren't like us who hae special kids. It blessed me in many way, Carrie

Anonymous said...

This poem and many many more like it are in the book Chicken Soup for Your soul - Children with Special Needs. It is a MUST read even if you aren't like us who hae special kids. It blessed me in many way, Carrie