Being Special

Honestly for a long time people with special needs made me a bit uncomfortable. It was something I didn't like about myself, but it was there nonetheless. Then God sent four amazing people back and into my life. 

Kim and Eric Coker have been friends of mine since I can remember, but time and circumstances let them drift out my life. However, about a year and a half a go, God saw fit to bring them back into it. This time though they came with two very special additions, their two amazing children Joshua and Jacob.

Joshua and Jacob both have special needs, and I am reposting this from their daddy's wall. And let me tell you, these two young men, and their parents, have taught me so much. They have taught me that people with special needs are indeed special, and yes BECAUSE they are different, NOT INSPITE of it.

They are two of the sweetest, kindest, most loving children I have ever known. Through faith and prayer, they have defied every odd that doctors threw at them when they were born, and they inspire people with their story. When I look at them all I see is SPECIAL.

They are special because watching how much Jacob still innocently loves his mama and wants to hug her all the time and claps loudly for his daddy after he sings a special in church makes not only my heart happy, but also everyone who sits around them.

Watching Joshua grow into this more independent, hard headed person who drives Kim insane warms my heart because he is being so "normal" in his back talk and defiance, and in his case, that is nothing short of a common little miracle.

All four of these people are amazing. They have taught and given me so much. Before Kim came back in my life, I was one of those people who threw the adjective "retarded" around all the time. I really didn't mean it badly. It was just something I said to say things "aren't right" or are "weird" or "different," but one day in Sunday school Kim explained to us how it hurt her to hear this word being thrown around so thoughtlessly and in a way that is meant to be hurtful to others.

That day I made a promise that I would try my very best to stop using that word like that. I can't see that I am 100% successful, but I would say I am pretty good at finding other words now. My new challenge is to get my teenagers not to throw the word around so mindlessly. This proves to be a much harder task, but I hope that even though they may not "hear" me right now, that one day what I tell them will hit home, and they will realize how hurtful their words can be.

So, I will always do whatever I can to support this family and anyone with "special needs" because don't we all have special needs in some way. I know I for one am special, and wouldn't want to be considered anything else.