Unexpected Blessing

Last night, we went out to dinner with some of our closest friends to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.  We sat out on the patio so we could enjoy the weather and the atmosphere.  The adults sat at one end of the table while the kids sat at the other end.  We had great conversation and many, many laughs.  John was sitting in his chair next to me, taking in the surroundings and watching all of the people around us.  We were finished eating, and the other kids were off getting their faces and arms painted by a lady the restaurant had there.  The evening was perfect.  It really couldn't get any better, so we thought.

While we were sitting there, a young girl and her mom walked up to John and started talking to him.  It was obvious that they knew him, but I did not recognize them.  I was sure it must be someone from school that I'm supposed to know, but just couldn't place them.  Finally the mom introduced her daughter, Emma, and said that she was in John's second grade class at Shafer.  He gets to spend 20 minutes a day in the classroom with other second graders for reading.  And word on the street is the kids usually fight over who gets to read to John.   According to the mom, Emma says she likes to scoot a little closer to John because he likes to put his hand on her arm and when she's too far away, he has to reach for her.  Then the mom told us a story that I will never forget.

At some point during the year, the school had a contest for drawing a picture of the school's mascot, which is a silver knight.  I'm not sure what the contest was for.  Maybe it was for the cover of the yearbook.  Anyway, mom said that Emma came home excited about drawing a picture of a knight.  But Emma noticed that all of the other kids were just drawing ordinary knights.  Emma thought about it and said that sometimes a knight can be in a wheel chair.  So Emma googled a picture of a knight and a picture of a wheel chair and decided that was what she would draw.  She had to get help from a friend because she couldn't figure out how to bend the knight's knees and make him fit into the chair.  But eventually she figured it out and got her drawing to look the way she wanted.  She then titled her picture "John".  Emma didn't win the contest and she didn't get her knight on the cover, but she gave something to Tommy and I, and to everyone sitting at our table that none of us will ever forget.  She showed compassion for our boy that nobody asked her to show.  She touched all of our hearts with that story, and we will never forget the kindness she showed.  It was great to meet her and her mom.  Mom says that she was so happy to finally meet John because Emma talks about him all of the time.

Not only did this just melt our hearts, but it taught me several things.  First of all, I am absolutely sure that John is at the school God wants him to be at.  Even with the heartache of having to leave OKE and his teacher, God knew exactly what he was doing, just as he always does.  He put our boy in a place where he can be taught, and loved and where he can also touch the hearts of other staff as well as students.  Secondly, I learned that those 20 minutes every day that John gets to spend in the regular ed second grade class is very important.  No matter how short of a time it seems, it is obviously enough time for John to touch the hearts of his fellow classmates and to build meaningful relationships.

I told Emma and her mom about our Special Buddies program at Shafer and told them that I would love for Emma to be a part of it next year.  She is a perfect example of what Special Buddies is all about.  Emma said she would love to be in Special Buddies and that she would love to be John's buddy.  Hopefully they will end up in the same homeroom next year.  I might have to see what I can do about that.  Emma's mom took my phone number and she is supposed to text me a picture of the drawing that Emma made.  I can't wait to see it!!!