So today I offer another post from Gary Molander's topic list. This one is very personal, and a great pleasure to write. My hero is my oldest daughter Jessica. I know all mothers think their children are wonderful and we should, but I have watched my child developer into a young woman that has more strength and more generosity of spirit than I do. Some of you reading this will know our story and some won't. I hope you will see that strength isn't always physical power and that we can all learn from one another. No one is too young to have something of value to the Kingdom of God and to our world.
So why is a 15 year old my hero? Jessica is genuinely sweet. She sees people, all people as having value, just as they are. Some of this comes from having her sisters and living with their special needs. Since they were born with these needs it is just normal to her, but of course she sees the differences between them and typically developing kids. She has a friend that is about 6 months older but light years ahead of the twins. But that doesn't matter to her, they are her sisters and no one better tell her they are any less valuable than anyone else. I remember when they were about 5 and Jess was 7. I was feeling sad about the lack of progress we were seeing. I can't hid my feelings from the kid, she knows me too well. So she asked. I told her how I had hoped to see more progress from them, and how worried I was about them. Jessica just put her arm around me and told me, "mom, the twins will be fine, God made them how they are and He's gonna take care of them." I saw her loving heart again recently. At her school there are two disabled boys. They are in one of her performing arts classes, theater movement. One uses a wheelchair, and can only speak a few words. The other is cognitively challenged, probably functioning around a 5th or 6th grade level. When it comes time to pick a group for an activity, Jess always makes sure her friends have a partner. She speaks of them like they were anyone else. She knows their special needs but to her that is just part of who they are. Apparently it is a custom in her school to give one another nicknames. One of her friends gave her the name tickle, because she is so ticklish, and because it is one of the few words he can say. He is hugs to her, because he always wants a hug. Jessica's love for others isn't limited to people with special needs either. Recently she came home in tears because a boy at her school was killed when he got into a fight with another boy. They were taggers, in a gang. He had just started at the school and true to form Jess had tried to make him feel welcome. When she heard about his death her response was that he was trying to get out of the gang and she was heartbroken that he hadn't.
Jessica has a strength about her too. When she was 3 she was diagnosed with scoliosis, a curve of the spine. It was severe enough that she had to wear a hard plastic brace from the time she was 3 until she was about 12. She hated it and as a little one she fussed about it. But she went on and persevered. She wore it but it didn't stop her from trying all the things she wanted to try from dance to music and acting, none of this "I can't". Life has hardly been easy for her either. Despite trying to keep as normal a life as possible for her she still faces the pressure of having sisters who will never be "normal" and as such require a bit more attention from mom and dad. She also has a dad with disability, he has MS. This has required her to sometimes be more of a mom than a kid, because I was taking care of her dad. She willingly accepts the responsibility and when I try to thank her she simply replies "mom, it needed to be done and I am glad to do it." She's not a grumbler, even when she has to give up stuff she would like to do or have or be.
So that is why she is my hero and I am truly blessed to be her mom. So I hope you see that this young girl is a lesson to me and a precious part of God's kingdom. I hope that we can learn to see others more like she does, and go out of our comfort zone to serve others.
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