As I lingered over some of the pictures in Just the Way I Am yesterday morning, the thought struck me: will people going through hard times look at these pictures and not see their family situation? The pictures of the children with disabilities (and their siblings or parents) are beautiful.
Frequently our lives are not like that. My child has times when he does not carry ANY external manifestation of beauty.
That thought was quickly followed by this one: of course the pictures are beautiful, because the children are beautiful!
Josh Hackney, the photographer for this book, overcame the Western cultural expectation that to look at or photograph disability is to look at and capture something strange or hideous or sad. Josh worked hard to capture the children as God sees and created them – as God’s very own, for his glory.
Thus, Josh captured beauty!
Paul sometimes has bad days, and sometimes that results in my wanting to weep and hide over how hard everything seems to be. And that doesn’t have ANYTHING to do with Paul or the situation. On those days, I have taken my eyes off Jesus.
The fact is that God will supply all my needs (Phil. 4:19) in those moments, for me and for my boy and my other two boys and their sister and my wife and everyone else in Paul’s life.
How? “According to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). That kind of wealth is both infinite and indescribable! Easily God can supply every need, no matter what it is.
So, I am grateful this book is full of beautiful pictures of extraordinary children, even if some people, at first, will struggle that these are not their experiences with the children with disabilities they know.
Because together with the words from the Bible that accompanies every picture and the work of Holy Spirit, God can turn their mourning into joy, like he has done so frequently for me:
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
Jeremiah 31:11,13
The Works of God 
Oh wow! I thought the same thing when I first read the book and say Christian’s pics. I was thinking, “These pics of my son don’t really show how it generally is. Will they be of encouragement to others?” However, the Lord has used you to point me to the truth – God’s Word. The pics are exactly how God intended for them to be — Beautiful. They represent Him and the beauty of all that He has made. Thanks John for sharing this post!