“As he went
along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who
sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ‘Neither this man nor
his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the works of God
might be displayed in him.’”
-John 9:1-3
First of all, I realize it
has been awhile since my last post!! I
know you all have busy lives and have not been holding your breath, haha, but I
want to apologize for the unannounced hiatus.
I guess I didn’t realize I was taking a break until the weeks and then
months went by! I really appreciate this
outlet and how each one of you continue to care and support our family as we
share what the Lord is teaching us and doing in John’s life on this redemptive
journey. I won’t make any promises, but
I do miss you and hope to post more frequently going forward!
Today was a very exciting
day in the Stone household, so exciting we had to share: John went off to
kindergarten!! He is still at his
amazing school but now going for a full day for the first time ever! Our little boy is growing up!
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| "Kindergarten Rocks!" |
We experienced many mixed
emotions heading into this day: grief, envy, joy, anticipation, hope. Certainly, this is not what we expected
kindergarten to look like for any of our children. We did not expect a one-on-one intensive
therapy setting without the traditional classroom or back-to-school supplies
shopping trip. Bottom line, we did not
expect a special needs scenario. Who
would?
However, God knew what
John’s future would hold the day he was born, and He is not taken by surprise
by how kindergarten is unfolding. He
also knew the “experts” would be wrong when they predicted he wouldn’t live
past infancy and definitely not past 5.
God knew every day would be a gift, and it is. Not one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. But in John’s situation this has always been
evident and therefore we want to live celebrating each day, despite the earthly
range of emotions we may experience.
Today as I dropped John
off in the carpool line and as tears pooled in my eyes, the overwhelming
emotion that trumped all others was that of extreme and utter gratitude. Gratitude for John. Gratitude for his amazing school and the
staff there. Gratitude that we have access to it. Simple gratitude to God…. for all these gifts
and for opening my eyes to see clearly, to see in the light of His truth at
least on this special morning. I know I
will continue to grieve and mourn (as we all do in a broken world that is not
yet as it was intended to be) and I certainly won’t always have the proper
perspective, but today I am simply grateful.
So my big 5.5 year old boy
is growing up. And so is his Mama. I recognize
that John has true joy. And as the Bible
says, the joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. 8:10). That is where our true strength lies. And my little boy teaches me that more than
anyone else. The world sees strength and
success one way, but I want the kind of strength John displays every single day
despite obstacles and despite his “special needs.” Like the opening verse, John was born with challenges. But the work of God is undoubtedly displayed
in his life. Thank you, Jesus, and thank
you all for your continued prayers! We
are excited for all this new school year will hold!
