Before I knew you...

Wow! I love spending time with God and my son. The Lord blessed me with an incredible experience with Christopher yesterday and it meant so much to me. We did our Bible reading for the day and then we did our little devotion that focuses on just one verse. Now, before I tell you the verse, let me preface this by saying that I am still in the process of embracing Christopher's diagnosis of Aspberger's along with a host of learning disabilities. And after much prayer, I don't believe that there will be a miracle of healing for him. I believe the miracle has already been done in the person that he is. I believe that the depth of feeling and the connecting that he has with God and the heart that he has for people and for missions is in fact a miracle. And I know that God has something wonderful in mind for him.

So yesterday our verse was Jeremiah 1:5 "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet for the nations." This wasn't my devotion for the day, this is the devotion that Chris and I do together. All I could say was YES!!! Absolutely! Then I got to have a wonderful conversation with my son. I had been struggling with how much to tell him about his diagnosis or what to tell him, how much he needs to know and I prayed and asked God to show me how to tell him and what he needed to know. So in this moment I was able to tell him that his brain works a little differently than some other people's and he learns in different ways. But no matter how his brain works, God planned it in advance. His brain is special just as he is special. He is special because God has set him apart. His brain isn't different because God made a mistake, his brain his different because God planned it that way before he was ever born. And his eyes lit up with the joy of the Lord and said "Really?"

Yes Chris, God has set you apart for a special purpose. He made you special and unique and wonderful. God created you perfectly. Remember to always follow His leading for your special purpose and everything will be fine. He was so excited that day. Instead of feeling inadequate, he felt unique. Instead of feeling stupid, he felt special. Instead of feeling less than, he felt exalted. I can't wait to see his life unfold as he serves God and we see His purpose lived out in Chris.

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet for the nations" Thank you God for creating us perfectly.