Imagine.
Imagine that you have arrived at a very beautiful place. As you are approaching the building, there are people lined up on both sides of the door cheering you on and welcoming you with joy. You enter into the building and immediately there are people patiently asking your name and handing you and your caregiver lanyards with your name tags attached. Those same people tell you what table you are assigned to and ask if you need help finding it. You say no because you can clearly see where your table number is located.
You get yourself situated at the table and then stand up to walk around. A sweet older lady invites you to get a boutonniere for you and offers a wrist corsage to your friend who is a woman. The helpers at that table assist you with pinning on your flower and helping your friend place her corsage on her arm. You walk around a little more and find a table with crowns and tiaras. The crew at that table hand you a crown and help you to adjust it to fit your head. Your friend gets handed a tiara with an offer to help place it just right on her head.
You look around and see more of your friends coming into the room and making their way to your table. You go over and spend some time hanging out with them. Someone in your group notices that there is a photo booth and several of you wander over for a group photo. Then, you each post individually at the booth.
Soon after there is an announcement that they will begin dismissing one table at a time to enter the buffet line to get your dinner. Some of your friends are getting through the line with the help of a walker, some are in wheelchairs, and some are walking.
The dinner menu has many different items available. There is a main dish with meat. Next there are green beans. You are delighted to see that there is also macaroni and cheese – your favorite. A dinner roll is offered to you. There are servers who are very kind asking you which items you would like to eat. They place your choices onto your plate. Then, you can pick a small cup with veggies and a dip and also a fresh fruit cup. Small packs of applesauce are at the end. There are several different kinds of beverages like lemonade, iced tea, and water to choose from.
And then, there was dessert! You love dessert. You pick a pudding parfait cup and a few cookies. They were all so very delicious.
It was nice to sit with friends while you enjoyed the meal and dessert, especially dessert. You all had a great time just being with each other. Everybody was so dressed up and looking handsome and beautiful.
After dinner, a man got up in front of everyone and was very excited about a message he was giving about Jesus. You know Jesus and always enjoy hearing about Him. Some of your friends don’t know Him yet, so you are glad that this man was willing to share the gospel message.
Soon after, the party music started. People began making their way to the dance floor. It was so much fun to dance with your friends and with some people you just met who were now becoming new friends. Someone even handed out flashing light glow sticks that you all got to wave around as you were dancing.
At the end of the party you stand around talking with your friends and you all are sharing with each other what you loved about the evening. While you each loved all the things: food, photos, flowers, crowns, tiaras, getting all dressed up, and glow sticks – the most important thing to you was being with old friends and meeting new friends, feeling special, and realizing that people came together to make this happen for you. You and your friends felt like you were at a great celebration and the thing celebrated was you! You felt seen, honored, loved, and that you belonged. You were amazed that so many people would work this hard to make this happen for you. You began to realize your worth.
You’ve been told many times that you are fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator of the universe – God, but you haven’t always been treated that way. Sometimes you get left behind. Not many understand your feelings because you have a difficult time expressing them. Even when you do make the effort to express them, most people are already moving on to other things before you finish your thoughts. Some people are actually cruel to you.
But, for this one night – you knew you were cherished, valued, and treasured.
The Privilege.
Three organizations came together to make this party happen with the idea of celebrating friends who happen to have disabilities and the three of us, Tom, Julie, and Amy of Champions4Parents had the wonderful opportunity to prepare some of the food, be part of the set up, and enjoy this event with many friends with disabilities and their caregivers.
The Mission.
This is the mission we take up. We want to see every person with disabilities know their worth. We want them to experience what true community looks like. We don’t want them to feel that they are on the outside of life looking in as through a window. We want them to be in the room using their talents, gifts, energy, wisdom, and intelligence fully integrated into the body of Christ.
If you would like to have a conversation to brainstorm how you might help adults with disabilities know their worth, we are here for you. Email us at Champions4Parents@gmail.com or text us at 410-746-9010 and let us know your desire to connect. We can meet by email, telephone, Zoom or in person if you are local to Central Virginia.
Much love,
Tom & Julie Meekins
CONNECT WITH US:
We invite you to connect with Tom, Julie, and Amy through:
Email: champions4parents@gmail.com
Phone: 410-746-9010 (Voice or Text)
Facebook: facebook.com/Champions4Parents
Don’t forget our website: Champions4Parents.com
And check out Amy’s websites at
AmyChristineMeekins.com
Amystories.wixsite.com/heartrecharge
If you would like to support us financially as we provide love and support to Parents and Caregivers as well as Ministry Folks who serve families impacted by disability, we invite you to our donor page on our website: Champions4Parents.com/giving
