For those who work with children…and for all of us!
Sometimes life is less about a checklist and more about teaching the heart a new way of loving.
The term “special needs” can mean so many different things and is often related to one’s own personal experience or lack of experience. We may have assumptions because we have worked with someone with that label before or have a family member who has it or have observed a friend’s sibling with it.
We tend to want to categorize people.
- “Oh — Johnny has “Downs” – okay, he is going to be like this…”
- “Amy has CHARGE Syndrome so she will not be able to…”
- “Patty has CP and will never…”
- “Alex has Autism. He will be hard to manage because…”
- “Emma’s parents are divorced, therefore, she will struggle with…”
- “Tommy is in foster care. Assume you will find these behaviors…”
- “Olivia is home schooled. She will probably…”
- “Liam goes to Christian School. Therefore, he will…”
- “Isabella is in public school. She will most likely…”
or…
- “I have heard that Liam is a handful.”
- “I have heard that Charlotte is a crier.”
- “I have heard…”
What if we spent time actually looking at and getting to know the individual uniqueness of each child? What if we didn’t get lost in the labels. What if we didn’t get stuck in the assumptions? What if we looked at each child with a clean slate, a new story to be written, a new opportunity to get to know them?
Let us pause often and ask ourselves: “what is the goal of ministry to children? Isn’t it to bring Jesus to them? Isn’t it to help them to see our own love for God and passion for His word and encourage them to have their own personal walk with Him?”
If we took time to get to know the children in our children’s ministry who are struggling or have challenges of any kind, we might be able to see a simple way and more effective way of bringing Jesus to them, specifically.
We believe God does this for us on an everyday basis – multiple times a day. He gives us opportunities to grow into who He is making us to be. God is not confined by syndromes or diagnoses, by previous behavior patterns, or assumptions because of life experiences. We want to give these children the opportunity to be who they uniquely are as well.
Pray and ask God to give you a heart to see the uniqueness and then the wisdom to bring Jesus to the children in a fresh way.
With much love,
Tom and Julie Meekins
