The middle aged women walks slowing in the room. The night light glows dimly giving a soft glow over the room enough to barely light up the large crib in the corner of the room. As you walk closer to the crib you are shock expecting to see a small cherub faced baby sleeping peacefully, as the music of a toy floats in the air above the crib. Instead, you see the cherub face of a nighteen year old sleeping quietly and the woman brushes the black strains of hair away from Shawna’s face. The women is me and it is good night in the Young household,
Over the years I have heard many names from onlookers who observed our children and our household. “ Saints”, “ self –giving”, “remarkable,” “God sees you and he will reward you.” Anybody that really knows us know we are none of that, just parents trying to raise and disciple children the best way we can.
We are children of God who have claimed to have their Father God’s heart and have seen the world for a second through his eyes. Nothing more nothing less. People who have denied my children medical treatments, or wheelchairs have even less of flowery things to say about me. I hate fighting for my kids rights but I will not stand for them to denying things to make their lives better.
But on the end of the day we are the blessed ones getting to raise such wonderful kids. I am a blessed woman. I have a God that loves me enough that he taught me to see the world a little differently. I am a blessed women, who God allowed me to meet and marry a man who see the world the same way I do. Yet, he has the strength and understanding that I can’t mother all the world’s forgotten children. So he has the strength to desire the will of God and to tell me no at God’s appointed times in our lives. I have wonderfully imperfect kids that He has allowed me to love, yell at, cry for on my knees in prayer, and have visions for their futures which sees no limitations.
We are joining a new church plant with people young enough they could be my kids. Learning how to talk about ministry with a younger terminology and how to function on staff with blending job talents and responsibilities to form a team.
Middle age is not the time to stop doing something for God. Of course we have been “crazy” most of our lives. We have adopted seven kids, many with special needs. We have literally sold everything we owned except the clothes on our back and moved to Namibia, Africa, only to come home almost two years latter with two additional kids, then announced we were moving to Alabama.
I say we are blessed. We have crawled into God’s lap and seen the would through his eyes and He changed us forever. Someone recently told me “you are not supposed to birth children in your fifties. Why no? Sarah did it and it turned out pretty good. If birthing ministries and churches is wrong then half on the men and women who listened to the leading of God in their old ages and God worked miracles in their behalf were also wrong. God does not do thing that are ever normal to the word. After all did Mary not give birth and still was a virgin?
I am the bless one who gets the pleasure of living the dream. I am a 52 year old women who has the pleasure of raising remarkable disabled children, with one remarkable husband, who loves God and me. We are selling our old house and have moved to be better positioned so we can help start a church that is targeting a younger group of people I could have given birth too. It’s not us, it’s only because we took a quick peek into the Father;s eyes and we were forever changed.
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