Alan was born blind. He has never seen anything through his eyes, not even a glimmer of light. The doctors said the only thing that would ever be possible would be a miracle from God. He is a 10 year old kid in a 42 yr old mans body!
He has brought us the true heart and soul of Jesus for the last 14 years!(for Joel 20 yrs)His heart is for the 10 to 14 yr old boys. Not because he is weird or strange. But because God has allowed him the ability to connect with that strange, awkward age.
They tend to be over looked, annoying, in the way, and sometimes just plain forgotten. Alan was blessed with the gift of remembering! Some people are alarmed by his unrelenting love and friendship for these boys.(usually their sons)But there is nothing to fear, except for the devil to take control of your heart and make you see or think something ugly.
Alan has taken care of all three of our children at different times over the course of the last 14 yrs. Sometimes together, but most of the time individually. They have walked to many places together often in very busy areas. We are not irresponsible in our care for our kiddos. In fact those have probably been some of the most effective parenting times we have blessed our children with!
Yes taking Alan places can be challenging sometimes, because of his physical blindness. But you know something, it never ends up mattering, because he sees more spiritually than anyone else I know! With that gift life is always a treasure with Alan!
Alan got to spend Christmas this year with us. He said it was the BEST Christmas he has ever had! Some might have heard him talking about how cool he thought it was to have an evening service on Christmas, with one of his best friends delivering God's message. Or maybe you heard him talking about a ton of gifts made to order just for him, hanging out with 3 of his favorite head characters(John,Laura,Emily) or even his first ever stocking filled to the brim with special items, or even all the delicious food we got to eat.(quality! in his words)
But guess what made it the ulimate BEST Christmas ever....
Connor getting baptized. Connor is 10 years old. If you were to ask our Emily, she would describe him as a really cool friend. Now if you were to ask our precious friend Alan, he would describe him as...Jesus!
As soon as Alan heard Connor go under the water he jumped up and yelled VICTORY! Then the words that followed were words that will forever ring in mine, Laura, and Emily's ears... Alan said, Wow, I know I've never seen light before but it was really cool I thought that everytime Connor said yes to the questions Joel asked him, it was as if I saw a flickering of light...
How amazing! We love Alan! I hope that if you ever get the chance to sit down and talk to him one on one you will. I promise you will be blessed. He truly is a treasure to the Quile family.
May you be blessed with the gift of joyfilled grace.
December 31, 2005
December 12, 2005
WOW! Life is absolutely fascinating! From the good all the way to the bad! So remarkable how even in the midst of a horrific time, we are blessed with gifts.
As hard as it is for even me to swallow most of the time,the ability to feel PAIN is a gift.
Whether it's physical, emotional, or spiritual! God shows us that in so many absolutely amazing ways,it's really kind of eerie!
I have no idea why God has put this on my heart to share. ButI feel overwhelmingly compelled to remind us of this sometimes forgotten, alot of times despised, most of the time mistaken gift.....pain.
Especially at this time of year when life seems to be, for most of us, very bittersweet! Seriously! I'm not meaning to make light of people being Bipolar( I have family members who have it) but I'm telling you if the majority of us ran ourselves through testing at this particular time of year I would imagine we would all be diagnosed with it!!!!
Anyways all I'm trying to say is, let's not so flippantly in anger, brokenness,or by mistake, overlook the gift of pain. When we allow God to fully disciple us we will without a shadow of doubt see the gift we indeed have with pain.
Starting with the most obvious...Physical pain. What if you or someone you loved dearly, had the rare disorder called "congenital insensitivity to pain" People who are born without the ability to feel pain. For example: children who have this disorder can touch a hot iron causing severe damage without feeling one ounce of pain! Man! what a horrific saddness!
You would see in this circumstance that pain would be a gift right?
It just puts my stomach in knots thinking about the constant struggles of raising a child with this disorder.
Lets talk about emotional pain. Rejection in any form can bring emotional pain. While I have been through some turbulent times, I am no where near being an expert in this area! However, I do know enough to see that in every experience of emotional pain I have been through, I valued the gift of the pain I was allowed to feel!
Sure there were times while in the midst of it all, it did not feel like a gift! Then there were other times, that (I truly believe) because I allowed God to totally be in complete control, that I was undeniably able to only focus on the deep,severe pain...and have an absolute peace.
Spiritual pain has both emotional and physical pain...The birth and death of Jesus.
What about hunger pains. Would you catagorize it into physical? I see it as all three. I believe there are some words we misuse alot! I have really been trying to work on the use of the word love.
Think about it. Sometimes we say oooh I LOVE hot dogs. Do you really want to put hotdogs on the same level as a child, a spouse, a parent?
Can hot dogs love us back(NO! they aren't even good for us in many ways!)
(but I do still eat them)
Well, I believe we also misuse the word starving! Think about that one! We have all been there. You skip breakfast for whatever reason..you've been extremely busy...now it's one o'clock and your stomach is growling...usually the first words are..Man I need something to eat, I'm starving!
We are not allowed to say starving or bored in our home! I hate those words!( I wish I was as adement on other things as well, then we would have perfect home!)
Anyways, just a few rambling thoughts from a simple lady with such a complex heart!
Today I challenge us to touch a hot iron(not in a damaging way) and pray for families who bear the burden of the disorder of "congenital insenitivity to pain" or for those who have been paralyzed.Praise God we can feel.
When praying for your self or others don't ask God to take away the pain and hurt they are going through, but to give them a peace or strength to endure, and allow the pain to give them the ability to identify with someone else, or to help us remember to be humble. Only God is Almighty, we are not!
When we find ourselves in the middle of spiritual pain, use this time to allow the gift of community to show us God's goodness! Make sure your in a small group that gives you a Godly avenue to grow in your faith in the middle of your struggle of pain or unbelief!
Next time you feel really hungry, allow your self to go just a little longer without eating, and then pray for those who are truly starving for food and water, or for love and acceptance, or even worse....for a savior!
Allow the gift of pain to empower you not to immobilize you!
As hard as it is for even me to swallow most of the time,the ability to feel PAIN is a gift.
Whether it's physical, emotional, or spiritual! God shows us that in so many absolutely amazing ways,it's really kind of eerie!
I have no idea why God has put this on my heart to share. ButI feel overwhelmingly compelled to remind us of this sometimes forgotten, alot of times despised, most of the time mistaken gift.....pain.
Especially at this time of year when life seems to be, for most of us, very bittersweet! Seriously! I'm not meaning to make light of people being Bipolar( I have family members who have it) but I'm telling you if the majority of us ran ourselves through testing at this particular time of year I would imagine we would all be diagnosed with it!!!!
Anyways all I'm trying to say is, let's not so flippantly in anger, brokenness,or by mistake, overlook the gift of pain. When we allow God to fully disciple us we will without a shadow of doubt see the gift we indeed have with pain.
Starting with the most obvious...Physical pain. What if you or someone you loved dearly, had the rare disorder called "congenital insensitivity to pain" People who are born without the ability to feel pain. For example: children who have this disorder can touch a hot iron causing severe damage without feeling one ounce of pain! Man! what a horrific saddness!
You would see in this circumstance that pain would be a gift right?
It just puts my stomach in knots thinking about the constant struggles of raising a child with this disorder.
Lets talk about emotional pain. Rejection in any form can bring emotional pain. While I have been through some turbulent times, I am no where near being an expert in this area! However, I do know enough to see that in every experience of emotional pain I have been through, I valued the gift of the pain I was allowed to feel!
Sure there were times while in the midst of it all, it did not feel like a gift! Then there were other times, that (I truly believe) because I allowed God to totally be in complete control, that I was undeniably able to only focus on the deep,severe pain...and have an absolute peace.
Spiritual pain has both emotional and physical pain...The birth and death of Jesus.
What about hunger pains. Would you catagorize it into physical? I see it as all three. I believe there are some words we misuse alot! I have really been trying to work on the use of the word love.
Think about it. Sometimes we say oooh I LOVE hot dogs. Do you really want to put hotdogs on the same level as a child, a spouse, a parent?
Can hot dogs love us back(NO! they aren't even good for us in many ways!)
(but I do still eat them)
Well, I believe we also misuse the word starving! Think about that one! We have all been there. You skip breakfast for whatever reason..you've been extremely busy...now it's one o'clock and your stomach is growling...usually the first words are..Man I need something to eat, I'm starving!
We are not allowed to say starving or bored in our home! I hate those words!( I wish I was as adement on other things as well, then we would have perfect home!)
Anyways, just a few rambling thoughts from a simple lady with such a complex heart!
Today I challenge us to touch a hot iron(not in a damaging way) and pray for families who bear the burden of the disorder of "congenital insenitivity to pain" or for those who have been paralyzed.Praise God we can feel.
When praying for your self or others don't ask God to take away the pain and hurt they are going through, but to give them a peace or strength to endure, and allow the pain to give them the ability to identify with someone else, or to help us remember to be humble. Only God is Almighty, we are not!
When we find ourselves in the middle of spiritual pain, use this time to allow the gift of community to show us God's goodness! Make sure your in a small group that gives you a Godly avenue to grow in your faith in the middle of your struggle of pain or unbelief!
Next time you feel really hungry, allow your self to go just a little longer without eating, and then pray for those who are truly starving for food and water, or for love and acceptance, or even worse....for a savior!
Allow the gift of pain to empower you not to immobilize you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
