Blog

Be a good listener

It’s the first step, isn’t it Kerrie. Be there. Sit by them. Listen.

My story is also a lifetime one, I’m now in my late 50′s and can still hear my mother saying “we didn’t want you” – believe me It is no small thing.

The dignity uncovered when intentionally expressed grace is practiced. Reminiscent of the mustard seed.

So true. And that intentional grace is costly grace – in time and energy. That’s why I believe such love can’t be generated without the indwelling Spirit of God. We’ll soon run out otherwise.

Wow Maximus. My prayer for you is that “we didn’t want you” is replaced with “but God did”.

Having a child with autism, we have seen how our son Callum is treated in the different churches we’ve been in.  We have found that churches with a big emphasis on running programmes, performance, etc struggle to incorporate children and adults with learning difficulties into their community.  We are now in a church where the leaders and people focus mainly on loving God and loving others, and everything they do flows out of that foundation, and naturally, caught up in that, our son Callum is so easily welcomed and loved.  I think churches need to understand what is important – if the focus is on loving God and loving others, inclusion and acceptance of anyone with any disability becomes easier.

SUCH a valuable insight, Grace. Sadly, most of those programmes would’ve been great ideas when they were first launched; great ways to serve people. But maintaining the machinery can soon become the primary focus. 

Will take this away with me for the rest of the day.