Wednesday afternoon I was reminded that in some parts of the world children with disabilities are immediately hidden away or given up to orphanages. The shame is too great for families to bear. The churches in those areas are too ill equipped to intervene or even prepare their people for the situations they find themselves in.
It was a good reminder that we are not ashamed of those God has created for his glory to live with disability. And even if we started out or continue to struggle with being ashamed or angry or bitter, God can turn cold, hard hearts into ones passionate for his name’s sake, completely in love with those entrusted to us by the creator himself.
On Friday the Desiring God National Conference begins. We are expecting more than 3,500 people to attend.
This year, attendees will have three different opportunities to be introduced to disability:
- Krista Horning will be signing Just the Way I Am at 11:00 a.m. on Friday morning, and the book will be sold in the bookstore at the conference
- The Elisha Foundation will have a booth
- Wrestling with an Angel will be available for sale for the first time, Lord willing.
Will you pray with us?
- That those who have never even thought about disability will be gripped by God’s sovereignty and goodness over disability, and will be given a new, God-given imagination for welcoming those with disabilities into their churches
- That those who are coming with hard, deep questions about the suffering they or their children with disabilities are experiencing will be overwhelmed by how short this life is, by how long eternity is, and by how massively strong and purposeful God is in what he is doing, for his glory and for their good
- That these resources would ignite passionate spreaders of the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. Where the world sees weakness, expense and inconvenience, may thousands see the most vulnerable among us as God created them: indispensable (1 Corinthians 12:22).
The Works of God 
As a single father of a 17 year old son with Fragile X Syndrome I have sought out and read this and a handful of other sources for families dealing with disabilities. I don’t question the how or why my son was born with a disability, just like I don’t question why some people are born in poverty in third would countries while others are born into a relatively comfortable life here in the United States.
I also don’t see any blessing or any other higher cause in his being born with this condition, merely the cards that we are dealt.
My situation has been much different than many parents of disabled children so I’ve never experienced those moments of joy that I’ve read about, to describe my experience is that I endure.