"Like Unto a Child"

Ok, I just wanted to give you a picture to look at while I explain what I am thinking about. So I do believe in Jesus Christ and that He is our savior and redeemer and that only through Him, we can be saved and made whole. However, as we go about our daily lives, we often forget this simple and beautiful truth. However, as a teacher, I am able to get a reminder that most people don't. 

Because of the lack of history teacher openings at the moment, I am working as a substitute for two school districts which means I can go to any school that I like and substitute. I love going to the special needs classrooms and schools. As a child, I was frightened of children or even adults that had these handicaps and disabilities. It's not that I was cruel to them or anything like that, I just didn't know what to do and that made me afraid. 

Thankfully, my training as a teacher and age maturation has helped me overcome that fear and I have been able to see these children for who they really are. 

Sure, it is easy to just see the wheelchair, the lack of verbal and motor skills, the mental and emotional handicaps. But have you ever sat with them, even for a short period? Interacted with them? Let them hold your hand or rub their back? Have you ever looked in their eyes? There is so much more to them than their handicap. I can't tell you how many times I have worked with a child that was so severely handicapped that I literally had to help them with everything. But every time, I can feel their spirit, their real self, trying so hard to reach out to me. 

The first special ed school that I helped out was during my university years. When we (there was a group of us) first met with the principal, she told us that there was a special spirit at that school. She mentioned that religion is rarely mentioned in schools, but you could not deny that there was a special spirit of love at that school, one that came from a higher place. 

And she was right. The spirit of love in that school was amazing. I felt more than once while I was at that school that the Savior must walk those halls. Those children must be so special to Him and what an amazing example to us that they are. Their lives are so much harder and more difficult than anything I will ever experience in this life. And yet they have so much hope and love within themselves that I always feel renewed whenever I work with them. They are also joyful, laughing and smiling and trying to express that happiness the best to their knowledge and ability.To me, these children will always be what Jesus Christ meant when He said become like a child. 

Well, today I was at another special needs school and I was working with an autistic class, and it was lunchtime so we went down to the cafeteria. There were all sorts of levels, abilities, and ages in that room. Some were high functioning; several had severe cases of cerebral palsy and would spend their entire lives in a wheelchair; some could understand what was going on around them but had no way of communicating. In many ways, it is a scene that could break your heart and leave you wondering how life could be so unfair. 

As I sat there supervising my two students that I was responsible for, I was reflecting on the difficulties that these children must have, and I remembered thinking how grateful I was that there will be a resurrection and that these students will finally be whole and perfect. Then again, I felt it in my heart and my mind that Jesus was so very aware of these special children and that He was watching over them. It was such a tender moment that I started to get teary eyed while sitting at the cafeteria table. It was just such a relief to me that He is going to take care of them, every single one of them.

I of course had to wipe away any tears and get back to work, but even as I write this I am getting emotional. Of course, working with these children can be extremely difficult and frustrating at times. But  to be able to look at them and know that one day you will see them run up to you, free from the constraints and challenges of this life, and able to do everything that they couldn't before makes it worth everything.