31 for 21: Truths Together

*I've joined a blogging challenge for the month of October: Blog every day in October in honor of National Down Syndrome Awareness Month (Down syndrome is medically defined as Trisomy 21, and there are 31 days in October, hence the name 31 for 21). My posts will not necessarily be about Down syndrome, but I am writing as a person who 1) loves many people w/Down syndrome and other disabilities and 2) desires for others to be able to see what I see: remarkably unique people with much to offer to the world*

What I really feel inspired to blog about today is about the Lord and His truth and my sweet local church.  Thankfully, I also realized a sweet connection to tie all of that back to my emphasis on persons with disabilities.  So while this entry may end up being long, hopefully it will also be cohesive. :-)

One thing I'm thankful for in the Lord's design is that He did not just see fit to save individual persons from their sin; He saw fit to save them into a body, the body of Christ, the Church, a community of believing persons.  I thank Him for this often, particularly as I glean benefit from that on pretty much every day of my earthly existence.

Today at church, as we were singing, it was one of those sweet times when worshiping God through song really did take me from point A - a distracted, tired, muddled mind - to point B - true and focused worship.  And as I sang, I was reminded of the people around me, often.  Not in a way that detracted from worship but in a way that enhanced it:

One song we sang was one that was sung at a good friend's grandfather's funeral.  I recalled the sweetness of that, how she was certain of his better life beyond the grave and how it brought her joy.  Another song mentioned looking ahead to the day we die and how we will continue to praise God.  I thought of a member of our congregation who has basically a terminal illness, and how still even she has tremendous hope.  I thought about her dear friend who is my dear friend and the fervent prayers that have been poured out over her life.  Another lyric mentioned how our Lord is slow to anger, and I recalled a conversation with another friend about how that characteristic of Him was so refreshing to her heart, and so it caused ME to think more intentionally about that quality as well.

Isn't God wise?  Isn't He good?  When believers live lives alongside one another, and do it vulnerably and honestly and biblically, we should only help each other to worship God more sincerely and more wholly.  And I'm so thankful that I am part of a church that strives to do that well.

So how to tie that back to my work life?  Easy.  I have a client who also reminds me of characteristics of the Lord, and it is so sweet.  This man definitely claims to love the Lord, and he loves to read the Bible, and he knows many truths about God.  We do little reading lessons from his Children's Bible, we sing hymns, and I love to hear Him pray before lunch time.  One day he asked me to explain "Why hell?" and I got to lay out the gospel for him - how our sin deserves punishment and only Jesus can save from hell.  This man has chronic neck pain and headaches, and he has talked often about how only the Lord can take away his pain.  I affirmed this truth and reminded him that the Lord is good, whether He takes away his pain or not.  His response was "Yup, He's good.  Always was, always will be."  And this statement has sort of become our mantra.  Always was, always will be.  I love this about the Lord- that He doesn't change - but it isn't a quality of His that I often pondered before.  Now I have a built-in reminder.  When my cousin was killed by a hit-and-run driver and the police didn't have a suspect yet, this client reminded me then that God was the one who saw it, and that He was always good and always will be! 

God has seen fit to insert even into my work life an external "reminder" (as in, a person who reminds), so that I have help throughout the day in remembering what is true.  What a good God!