Earlier this evening, I received word from a dear younger friend of mine, who I am mentoring, that he and his wife welcomed a new baby boy, Andrew Leonard, into their family at 4:01 p.m. this afternoon. He weighed in at 4#14oz. and both mother and son appear to be doing fine. Andrew has three older brothers and as the youngest, he will have his hands full dealing with his siblings. And even though Andrew is only several hours old, successfully entering the world wasn’t his first challenge.
You see, his birth is a miracle in itself. The fact that he is with us at all demonstrates his desire to survive and God’s desire to place this special child with incredibly special parents. Because long before he was born earlier today, Brian and Erin, Andrew’s parents, knew that Andrew would have challenges in his life. As a special needs child, there is no doubt that Andrew will face hardships and obstacles to overcome throughout the years of his life. And that goes for the rest of the family as well.
But as Brian so simply stated this evening, “we can’t change how God made us.” And God must have done some serious thinking to pick parents as special as Brian and Erin for this fragile new life that He has decided to create. And while there is no doubt that many people would question how to deal with the challenges Andrew is facing, the fact is that God really doesn’t give us more that we can handle, no matter how large the burden seems.
And it’s important to realize that we are never alone. Children are too important to God for Him not to consider all the circumstances of their lives. And this is done long before these special kids are even born. God already has all this planned out and no doubt He has a grand plan for Andrew that is far beyond our feeble ability to comprehend or understand. But I’ll assure you of one thing – and that is that Andrew will bring indescribable joy and love to others who will be enriched by the good fortune of knowing him.
When I was in seminary, Janet helped our cause by working with special needs children in a local school. She considers it one of the most rewarding experiences that she has had in life. And while we can’t help but love these children, they will love without judgment, unconditionally and will undoubtedly bring joy to those around them.
Obviously, we can’t even begin to understand the mysteries of God and why He does things that we can’t seem to understand. But we can rest in the knowledge that with God there are no accidents. Our verse for this evening is one that affirms that God has known us before we ever came to be. We are told by the Psalmist, in Psalm 139:13-16, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
My encouragement this evening is that God has a plan for Andrew and for every one of us who has ever been born. My prayer is that God will eventually reveal to Brian, Erin and Andrew what plans He has for Andrew’s calling and life. Furthermore, I hope that you will take a moment and offer God a prayer of thanksgiving for Andrew’s successful birth. I can hardly wait to see what God has planned next. Have a great day in the Lord, and congratulations Brian and Erin! You too, Andrew – God loves you and so do we…