God's word to me while on an exercise bike yesterday (maybe if I exercised more, he would speak to me more).
Garrett's ear is a bit odd. That is not politically correct, but it is true, and everyone who first meets him will think the same. There's 6+billion people in the world, and there's not that many who are missing their left ear. So, as a parent, you worry about him, you hope for him, that his life would never be defined or limited by such a thing...
In 1st Samuel (I believe), God teaches us that while Man looks at appearances, God looks at the heart. And God very clearly reminded me yesterday that while Garrett's ear may render him 'ugly' in Man's eyes, I have been and done things so much uglier, and so much more base, and yet God so carefully and gracefully loves me. It doesn't matter our looks, but our heart.
I pray over my kids as they sleep at night... standing over their beds. And while it is so natural to pray for their safety, their health, etc., I pray for their hearts, that they serve, and love and forgive, and give of themselves to God and this needing world. Garrett may forever be marred by some random pregnancy issue that caused his lame ear, but that issue directly led to him being given by God to us to care and love and raise him... and who knows where that will lead.
In this fashion, we ought to praise God for the strange ways He works in this world, and know that while Garrett's ear caused Man to shun him, God was and is and will be molding his heart. aeb
