Snuggling on a Friday Afternoon

It was kind of chilly in the house this afternoon. Catherine had been crying. I picked her up and realized she was a little cold. It was time to snuggle with her in a baby blanket. I love taking these close up pictures with Instagram, then playing with the color changes. She is such a cuddly little baby!

Physical Hearts and Spiritual Hearts

Today Catherine had both an echocardiogram and an EKG (electrocardiograph).

Catherine still has a small hole between the two valves of her heart. But her heart is formed normally. The doctor told us we should consider ourselves "lucky," and that he does not have to see her for another year.

What wonderful news. But we consider ourselves blessed. Luck has nothing to do with it because God  is in control of Catherine's life. He made her just the way He wanted her.

Tonight we went to Olive Garden as a family for dinner. Left is a picture I took of Elisabeth holding Catherine and Christopher taking one of his many, many, opportunities to kiss his little sister.

I am thankful that Catherine's physical heart is pretty good so far. It certainly is not what it could have been, and I am confident that this little hole will eventually close because of the doctor's reassurance that we don't have to take her to him for a year.

But I am even more thankful for moments like this one above.I thank God that He has given us sons who have a good heart toward their little sister. I am sure that Catherine will love them back with all her heart. This is the biggest blessing I can think of. Just look at her look up to him and receive that kiss. I really think she is enjoying it.

We may worry about the condition of the physical heart of a child or an adult. But are we worrying about the heart that matters most? More fundamental and more basic should be concern about our spiritual heart. So many verses of Scripture deal with the spiritual heart. See here for a list. http://www.christian-information-center.com/bible-quotes-on-heart.html.  I pray that my children come to realize their need for a heart that would love God and embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. I thank God that He has given them loving hearts toward Catherine. I'm just worried about Christopher and Noah's hearts toward each other (they fight over toys constantly), toward us, and toward the Lord. I pray they will come to realize their deep spiritual needs even more than their physical ones that they must deal with on a daily basis.

Greg
September 21, 2012

The Light That Gives Sight AND Blinds: A Sermon on John 9

Catherine having her feet kissed by Noah and Christopher the day I preached at Bethel Owasso.

On Sunday, August 26, 2012 I had the opportunity to preach a sermon on the Gospel of John, chapter 9. It is the story of the healing of the blind man, and the ensuing debate that followed.

I believe it was one of the most important messages I have ever given in all the times I have been in the pulpit.

I spoke about the importance of the question that the disciples asked Jesus concerning WHY the man was born blind. I said that it is a question that does not escape parents of children with disabilities--that it can be taken as a cruel question--but that it is one that Jesus needed to answer the way that he did.

Ultimately the sermon is about God using a disability for the sake of the gospel. He can do that whether healing takes place (as in the case of this blind man) or not (as in the case of the Apostle Paul who struggled with a thorn in the flesh). God will use disabilities for His glory, so that our boast will be in Christ alone, not in ourselves. The Pharisees, on the other hand, chose deliberate blindness in their disbelief. This passage calls us to a decision when we encounter Jesus that does not allow us to remain neutral. We must choose to walk toward the light, or risk becoming blind.

Therefore, just as the blind man was an illustration of the need for the light of the gospel, so having people with disabilities among us in our churches is a reminder of our own disability before we come to know Jesus Christ--before God enables us to believe with the effectual call of the Holy Spirit in the gospel. Before that, we are unable to believe. But we come to believe when the Holy Spirit calls us in and through the gospel. Therefore, we need people with disabilities in our congregations to remind us of this deep spiritual truth. But sadly, many churches are conspicuously empty of people with disabilities. This needs to change. The church needs to be ministering to them.

You can hear the sermon on sermonaudio.com. I am posting the link here:
Gregory Yankey: The Light That Gives Sight AND Blinds (John 9)

Please consider listening to it.