Carol McClain

How God Sees Us

by Carol McClain     @carol_mcclain 

Fifteen fourth graders crowded my classroom eager to make a stained glass heart.

I gulped. Fifteen nine-year-olds.

Then I stopped breathing. Fourteen active, normal nine-year-olds and one older, disabled child. How can the teacher instruct him along with all the others? I exhaled and breathed normally.

In one day I had to send each child home with a completed piece. I had no time to worry about their skills. I simply had to teach.

We picked out our glass.  “Chester,” my handicapped boy, was the only student bold enough to pick out a color other than blue or red. He chose yellow. Bright and cheery. It was the last thing he was able to do.

As we worked, the teachers created Chester’s heart. With nothing to do with his skill level, they suggested he become a doorkeeper. So Chester sat at the class’s open door and stared into the room.

The day neared completion. We needed to add patina and polish. Chester’s heart hadn’t been tinned. I asked his teacher, “He won’t mind if we leave it?” I glanced at him staring blankly at the room.

Instantly, his instructor picked up his heart and finished the process.

The day ended.

Of all the children, only Chester came up to me. “This was fun. Thank you.”

This slobberknocked me. He was not unaware. No unhappiness dogged him. The teachers treated him like everyone else He appreciated all that was done this day.

That’s when it hit me.

God sees us as Chester’s teachers saw him.

God Sees Us

1. As Able. He doesn’t look on the outward, measure us by our talents. He loves me as much as Chester and as much as Pope Francis. We are respected just as we are.
2. As worthy. He rains his mercy on the just and unjust. I will paraphrase that and say, he rains his concern on the able and the unable. My glass skills will never have me teaching those who already know the basics. It doesn’t matter. I got to teach those who could learn from me. Chester could do little, but he taught me a valuable lesson about my Father, God.
3. As Loved. When I die, Jesus will say, “Welcome into the joy of the Lord. I love you.” He will say the same thing to Chester. He said it to Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr. He doesn’t love us because of anything we do, just as we don’t love our children because they have talent. Ask any parent of a special needs child. God loves us.

Enjoy your life. Celebrate who you are. Live for God, and you will discover I speak the truth.