My friend Katie Wetherbee interviewed me a while back and is now posting the interview in parts over at her blog. I wanted to share the link so you could head over to her blog. It was encouraging to me to answer questions, rather than write or speak about it as I usually do. Something freeing about the process for me, even five and a half years later.
Katie does a lot of things, but one is to help families of children with special needs make quality connections within the local church.
Did you know many families with disabled children do not attend church because either the building itself is not accessible or because the body of people there are either unwilling or not educated on how to care for their children during a one hour service?
Are churches only for families with 2.5 kids who have no allergies, disabilities, or other special needs?
That's like saying the church is only for blond haired, blue eyed people from a certain region of Europe...and we all know how that worked out!
Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
Ummmmm. That would be EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. ON. EARTH.
Do you have to go to church in order to have a relationship with the Lord?
Ummmmm....NO! Plenty of churches around the world are welcoming, loving places where anyone would feel part of the fold. And then, there are plenty of others out there that Jesus wouldn't even set foot in because they are just too darned perfect...I would encourage you not to go to those, anyway.
Sorry, I'm off on a tangent.
If our son Noah had lived, he would have continued to have special needs, just as he did in the hospital with a staff of 40 loving nurses and countless doctors and specialists.
In real life, outside the hospital, it takes a community of support and encouragement to come around families of children with different disabilities. Heck, it takes a community of support and encouragement to come around EVERYONE.
*If you or someone you know would like to know more about getting your church up-to-date with how to lovingly come alongside families of children with special needs, check out: www.keyministry.org
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