The Birth of a Special Needs Little Boy and a Plan

We took my special needs son home from the NICU on a dark, cold, and rainy day.

It took a while for that image to register in my mind and heart.  My heart was locked down with the shock and fear of how his little life had just launched us into Special Needs Land.  

I felt as if I had been thrown into an ocean of the unknown---without a life preserver.

I had absolutely NO medical training, nor had I ever been around anything resembling a hospital, outside of the birth of my first son.

Somewhere between the clock 4-hour feedings, medications, which sometimes coincided, a nasal tube (and how much cats like to get a hold of them...), oxygen and apnea monitors, all of which filled my every waking, and sleeping hour, I lost track of time...

My son's birth brought great pain, sorrow, joy, elation, and yet, a new life I hadn't planned for.  But, it was God's perfect plan for me.

"Imperfect" special needs children are God's perfect plan

Our world would argue this.

They want people to live according to systems analysis and technology that perfects our productivity. They want a life without love and devoid of meaning.  

Real love to many people remains a life full of self-fulfillment without a deep, meaningful relationship. They follow their appetites to kill their pain, and never really arrive at love. They are empty and sometimes dead inside.

Yet, special needs puts a wrinkle in all of that, because our kids are round pegs that cannot fit in square holes.  They throw tantrums and have sensory issues that cause tantrums, health problems, and obsessions you wouldn't believe unless you are a special needs parent or caregiver...

They bring interruptions and a knock on the door of the heart.  It can bring rebirth on many levels to the people who care for them.

Many people don't attach special needs babies to Baby Jesus

But I do!  It is almost as if society expects that our babies are so imperfect and Jesus, is well, perfect, that the two don't match.  But, I don't think that was God's intention at all.

It is there in the gifts of the Wise Men.  

Did you know that frankincense is a tree resin that heals, even at a cellular level?  It is known to heal cancer cells, balance hormones, is an expectorant, and restores cellular balance.

What about myrrh?  It too is a resin and contains some of the expectorant and digestive boosting properties of frankincense.  It also boosts the circulatory system.  Further, it helps to heal wounds, along with many other wonderful benefits.

So, did you ask yourself why Baby Jesus needs frankincense and myrrh?  

I mean, the gold is easy to understand, but two tree resins that heal?  Well, perhaps it is in the word, heal.  Jesus certainly came to heal, didn't He?

The birth of Jesus was the birth of a New Covenant.

Literally and spiritually. The scriptures foretold His coming. God's sacrifice had to be physically perfect, just like the sacrificial lamb in the Old Covenant, in which God's requirement was a perfect lamb, without blemish.  

So, yes, Baby Jesus was perfect, physically, and spiritually, and the adult Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for all of us, including special needs.

Don't you see it?!

God would never sacrifice a special needs person. A man might, but not God.

Baby Jesus was not what many in His day and time expected as a Savior to the world, or the promised Maschiah, Messiah, but He was God's choice.  He was the Sacrificial Lamb for the New Covenant.  He is our Healer and the Author of new life.

Yes, He made a sacrifice for all those who choose to receive Him, but most importantly, He made a sacrifice for the weak and vulnerable---particularly the special needs people of the world, so that they could be healed either in this world or beyond. It is His perfect plan.

While the world mistreats a special needs person, God will help us help them. We may not always be able to stop every physical attack on our families, but God in His infinite wisdom will make a way.


The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you make take them from the sheep or the goats. Exodus 12:5


In His grip~Kim

Originally published 12/13/2014

During the Shmita year 2014-2015

Christmas, Starbucks, Peppermint Mocha, and Gingerbread With a Side of Church

Ah, the Skinny Peppermint Mocha....with Gingerbread, mocha, and lattes.

Even in July, it sounds nice, doesn't it? Just make mine iced and I can dream of the Christmas holidays to come. 

If you imbibe in Starbucks, you will know the drink.  Every year some of us wait for Starbucks' peppermint flavorings at Christmas time...

For others, though, Starbucks rings in the holidays with controversy.  

They would rather do away with Starbucks than drink a Peppermint anything at the green and white labeled store.  There are many Christians who have confronted the company about its female-shaped symbol, which we all came to know as the Starbucks Coffee logo.

While it may be considered a sin for some, for many it is merely a great coffee store with great coffee and a green label.  

What causes one person to sin does not necessarily cause another to stumble.

There is no such thing as a Gingerbread Christian.

You know, the mold and stamp of what your church, your denomination says a Christian is.  They are the cookie cutter variety that dresses and acts the part.  

They wear certain clothes, wear their hairstyles a certain way, and talk the churchy talk.  Yet such people may look the part, but not really be a part of the Body of Christ.

Then, a real man of God walks in with his biker apparel and kneels before the cross, weeping for the Lord to intervene in a matter.

Or, a woman, who has obviously seen the seedy side of life, raises her hands in worship to the Lord, thanking Him for all that she has.  

A real Christian...

Real Christians keep their focus on God's mission for them in each and every circumstance. Their hearts are entwined with the Lord's and the everyday nuances of our culture fall to the side. 

Real Christians may lift their hands in praise, or they don't.  They may wear certain clothes or not. Or, further, they may speak with a specific vocabulary, or not.  

Some Christians get married, divorced, or stay single. Still, others grew up with a background of poverty, or in riches.  Their parents were moral people, religious, or addicted. They are special needs or not.

The combinations of Christian backgrounds and personalities are endless, dear friend because God created them all. I assure you, they are not Gingerbread Christians.  They are created by our Maker, who has a purpose and plan for all of us.

Yet my prayer for all of us is this

That we all seek Christ above all else, following Him, and keeping Him on the throne, no matter what our backgrounds and financial status.  

Whether in family or church, we should strive to love and hug each other, share in each other's lives, and offer our support and encouragement. 

Yes, it will be messy, and the results will be worth it in the end.

We can still drink our peppermint mochas and eat our gingerbread (or not), while we fellowship with the Body of Christ. After all, it is the friends that we make more than the menu options.

In this way, we will find the unity of faith through Jesus Christ, and the Starbucks logo will fall to the side as unimportant. 

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7


In His grip~Kim

Originally published 12/7/2014

Wave The White Flag and Surrender All to Jesus

"We raise our white flag.  We surrender all to YOU.  All for you.  We raise our white flag. The war is over.  Love has come. Your love has won." ~White Flag, sung by Chris Tomlin

Have you sung this battle cry in the face of extreme challenges in life? Death and life are the Lord's call. He knows when to call it quits, and when to keep going.

We can keep going with our own ideas about how things need to be done. Or, we can seek out the Lord's solutions to our daily problems. 

No matter what you face today, friend, He has a plan and knows the way. 

Surrender all to Him and you will live the life He called you to live. 

Originally published 12/5/2014

During the Shmita of 2014-2015

Mary, A Woman of God Who Trusted God's Plans For Her

"Blessed is she that believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." Luke 1:45

It all began with a baby.

Yet, the world did not see her as a mother at first.  She was just Mary, a girl in the local village of Nazareth. She was considered pure and virtuous, and Joseph desired to make her his wife. 

Then, with the visitation of an angel, she was given the mission and the seed of the Holy Spirit to become the mother of Jesus.  She believed that the Lord had done this.  It was not any person's plan for the Messiah, but it was God's.

So, when her pregnancy shows, it creates a scandal.  After all, Joseph wasn't even around.  Hadn't he been pure with her?  How could Mary have done this?  Did a soldier take her?  

Joseph just knew that Mary had been unfaithful to him, so he decided to dismiss her quietly.  It was best for everyone.

That is until Joseph was visited by an angel in a dream, who told him that Mary was carrying a baby, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and would save the people from their sins.  

Startled, he awakens, and decides to do as the angel of the Lord told him, and take Mary as his wife.

The Word of God cannot be chained.

I love this story because God's plan was not going to be stopped.  It was prophecy at its finest, laid out in the Old Testament, only to be carried out in God's perfect time.

In the Mary and Joseph story, there was no compromise; God's prophesies were to be carried out and they were His choice. 

There was no shift from what God wanted to accomplish in the birth of a Savior.  He even knew exactly how to woo Joseph, and get him on board with the Creator's plans for humanity.

He knew who had a good heart and who didn't.

Yet, Mary had to trust God first.

Could you imagine?  You are a woman of God, impregnated by the Holy Spirit, and your betrothed thinks you were unfaithful.  How could the Holy One put you in this position?  

What happened to "I have good plans for you."?  (Jeremiah 29:11)

Based on the religious rules and orders of the day, you are an adulteress and shunned as such if you carry a man's child as a single woman.  Your very life is in jeopardy if Joseph abandons you because you could be stoned to death. 

Further, if you escape the religious leaders, how are you going to provide for yourself and your child, on the way? Even your family would be disgraced and be forced to shun you.

Yet, Mary knew that God would make a way for her and the child because He put her in this situation. She had to have faith that God would defend and protect her. She had to believe that the Lord would carry out what He said He would do.

It is a reminder to trust God first.

Mary shows us this.  She had incredible faith in the face of life and death and trusted God's plans for her life, which He had already revealed to her.  

Even though Joseph wasn't exactly cooperating with the Plan, we also have to give him credit, because after all, the angel came to Mary first, not Joseph. If God tells you He is going to carry out something, then shouldn't you believe?

Do you wonder what His plans are for you?

Are you saying, "I don't know what God's plans are for me? I'm just trying to get by."  Then, ask Him, and He will tell you. Even if you don't understand right away, pray and rely on Him for everything. I mean everything, and He will show you His plans, or tell you outright.

When you know what His purposes are for you, you can better be there for your family, and carry out His mission in your life.  

After all, when we are all we can be in Christ, then we can better support our families and those we are called to serve.

What is God's plan for you in your life? Seek Him first and discover it and you will find the peace that passes all understanding. 

In His grip~Kim

Originally published 12/1/2014

Season of Shmita 2014-2015