Precious in His Sight

I have had an interesting couple of weeks. First of all, I worked with some friends at a DeafBlind camp. There were 30 DeafBlind campers and each person had one or two people to help guide them to different locations, assist them in getting their meals, empower them to be as independent as possible, and encourage them to communicate with each other. There is also a more recent language that they are learning called Protactile so the guides and campers were learning this tactile communication as well. I had the privilege of helping people there that wanted assistance. It was a humbling experience because I had to take my eyes off myself for a while, and focus totally on these individuals who are so precious. The work was exhausting, but rewarding. I learned that every person is different, guides (hearing and deaf people) and DeafBlind people are all unique in their needs, their desires, their experiences.

Sometimes I feel like I want to “fix” people, but that is the wrong way to approach these precious people. God has given them a unique set of gifts that we don’t have. For example, we can learn more about the sense of touch. They learn to understand stories with touch. Also, they have a keen sense of movement. They learn to recognize where they are by the ground they walk on and its bumps and curves. They have to learn to “see” with their heart and their memory. Maybe a person’s hands are rough and the DeafBlind person can recognize that the person works in construction. Maybe that person has soft, gentle hands and the DeafBlind person recognizes his or her gentle personality by learning to communicate with that person. Another thing we can learn from DeafBlind people is being appreciative of people that care and communicate with us. Their community of friendship is small but treasured. They don’t take friendship for granted, but they show genuine interest and excitement when they communicate with others. Also, they usually remember the person who took time to communicate with them.

We all have unique gifts that we can share with others. It takes time to learn our gifts, and to learn others, but it is worth the effort! God made us all special in His sight.

Romans 12:3-5 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

Lord, Thank you for making us beautiful, each in our own way. Show us how to love without feeling that we are privileged. You created us all special so help us see your hand in all your creations. In Jesus name, Amen.