(30 days of Acceptance) // Day One Entry:
We welcomed a son in 2010. We named him Grady.
That same day the world named him, a cause.
The transition came after his arrival, as he grew and his needs/abilities were exposed. Well for those who are willing to listen long enough to know that we need something, we are easily summed up to just that… a cause. It’s as honest as I can get here… I cannot do this alone…. the village is needed. Oh for the proud and strong, it takes a lot of work to even write this much. We are worn down after a long week and find our church to be last place we want to make a stink in or express our needs. Well, I’ll say it…I need a safe place to land once in a while…It’s stinkin’ hard out here.. Dr. appointments, therapists, struggles, IEP’s, evals and the day to day stuff that we often don’t talk about because we figure your tired of hearing it…. Oh and Grady and his friends they need to have a place like that too…warm, inviting where they too can learn about Jesus…but most of all inviting. Oh if you saw how hard he works during the week, he needs it even more so than me.
It’s an honest assessment from our journey traveled. 4.5 years in. My heart before you, motivations true and clear. Stirred to share.
The battle.
//It’s easier to stay home.
//”everyone has a cause they are pushing for” —-
On that gritty and dusty street in John 9:3 … Jesus proclaimed to the disciples in assurance as only HE can that the man’s disability in front of them (in this case blindness) wasn’t because of the sins of the father… “but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him”
Works of God! BEHOLD.
I pray for the same Church who rally’s alongside the pregnant, pleading for Life and to embrace a prenatal diagnosis, prayer over bellies to resist the urge to abort to Rally once more … those babies you rallied for, the ones your bumper stickers fight for… Many of them make it through that battle… they arrive and some of them have needs. Are you still there Church? The rally can’t stop there….
Behold!… the works of God are displayed in them. Rally for them still. Give them a soft place to land at the end of the week like you do for the typical kids. Include them. Embrace them. Make a way, like you did for the crisis pregnancy.
A cultural shift inside the church starts with you…from the parking attendant to the top of the Chain… it’s a beautiful song… one of acceptance, education and rallying for those. with different needs, if people with disabilities are not at your church now (look around) they are often at home. because it’s just easier that way.
The world got it wrong. He’s a boy, not a cause. He has needs worthy of acknowledgment, that just shouldn’t have to be fought for. It was a given for Jesus, so Rise up Church and BEHOLD
Rally once again.
without wings 
Erin, I just want to say how PROUD I am for you to speak up about this. I’d be lying if I said these feelings never touched my own heart, and I admit that it is a reason my soul has struggled from time to time with the Church. It takes some “stones” to put it out there like you just did. And, I want you to know how much I appreciate you doing so for those of us who aren’t courageous enough to. I’ll be praying for you and your family to find peace and light in this situation. I pray moreso that you find the right Church for your family, the true sanctity that it should be. Big hugs, friend.
Oh, all that ^ and … I’m SUPER pumped you’re blogging again! Maybe you’ll get this mama started again too!!! The Good Lord knows I gotta lot to share (vent) these days! 😉
Erin, when we first starting going to Grace, there was a Sunday School Class called Kingdom Kids and my husband and I led that class for several years. It turned into a small group because we became so close to the parents. We expanded it beyond Sundays, and on an additional day (maybe a Friday for instance) the parents would bring their children to Grace to have a night out once a month while my husband and I stayed with the kids. It gave the families a needed respite and it gave us great joy.
I often wondered why that ended but our beautiful kids grew into beautiful adults.
Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time…”
The church grew, too, and we changed locations to the Newburgh campus.
It’s been 11-13 years since that time that we shared with those children and their families and we still follow their progress as to how God has moved in the lives of His Kingdom Kids.
Be encouraged and feel the love.
You’re amazing! Your writing draws me in just as much as your photography… You really are an incredible person and I admire you so much.
I’ve been reading through many of your posts for the first time. I can identify with so many of the feelings you write about. But this post about church really hit me. We have recently left the church that I grew up in, the church that had always been my soft place to land. It had changed in the past few years and had become a cold place, a place I no longer felt welcomed by. This all happened as we welcomed our third child home. We had been waiting to adopt for four years, after two pregnancies my body was broken, adoption was the only way we could grow our family. Our pastor was uninterested, to say the least, in our journey. I think that was one of the biggest hurts that left me feeling isolated. So when we got our match and it finally happened we were feeling so blessed. Isaac was perfect in every way, a true gift from God given to us in his perfect timing. I didn’t even feel confident enough to call our pastor to tell him…… he hasn’t been supportive in the past and I wasn’t optimistic. Isaac has DS but he also was born with a cleft lip and palate, and a bunch of other needs that we have discovered over the past 11 months. After being home with Isaac for months and never getting a call from our pastor we figured it was best to change where we attend. So we started to go somewhere else, a very welcoming church with a lovely compassionate pastor. But I’ve found myself guarded. We have spent months in the hospital this summer as Isaac had went through many surgeries and struggled to gain weight. I could have called the church and I’m sure they would have supported us, but something kept me from making the call. So we have missed church for months and I miss it. I have realized that when I go to church I just want to be. I don’t want to be the mom of a “sick” baby, someone to be pitied, or someone that is put on a pedestal for adopting a “special” baby. Although I could def use all the support I find that the reactions I get just make me want to stay home. Please pray for my family, I need more strength to raise three kids. I pray that you have found your soft spot to land with your little guy! Thank you for your posts, I know this is not the most recent but it really resonated with me.
You are 100% correct Erin.