Beyond the Concept

While I think the picture of running the race is helpful, it seems necessary to go beyond the imagery. Running with orphans with intellectual disabilities strapped to my back may be a creative spin, but in order for any worth to be attached to the picture- it must go from the abstract to the concrete.

It's not just a concept, you see. If the idea is ever going to mean anything (to actual children and to the Lord, Himself), caring for orphans with intellectual disabilities must be much more than that. It's a Jamesian argument of sorts- just as faith without works is dead and useless (James 2:20, 26)- it would seem that abstract ideas without concrete outworkings are just as pointless.

So to give meaning to the otherwise futile, this post is to share what it's really about- it's about twin girls, born Anna Claudia and Anna Carolina, both with Down syndrome, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Caring for them meant taking them out of the hospital where they were abandoned, and bringing them home. It meant taking them to Boston Children's for surgery so that their hearts could be fixed. It meant years of learning and loving as they grew into the young women God purposed them to be- Maggie and Mollie.

Mollie, if you've had the pleasure to meet her, will surely and quickly engage you in a conversation about her favorite things- all of which are food-related. If God gifts you with the patience and perseverance to decipher her unique dialect, and if Mollie, herself, deems you a worthy audience, she'll tell you just how much she loves guacamole, especially when it's from Chipotle. She may even, with her beautiful voice, sing you one of her favorite hymns- Great is Thy Faithfulness or Amazing Grace are at the top of her list. She has her moods, as any 'I-am-16-going-on-17' year-old girl would, though they are usually dissolved into jumping-up-and-down-dance-partying Mollie just as soon as the next good song comes on the iPod.

Maggie, if you've been granted special access into her world, will most certainly be found the most adorable girl you've ever met. She is currently sitting near me, calling my name ('Beff') every few minutes, and blowing me kisses. Her kind servant's heart is unlike any I've ever seen- there is surely no teenage girl willing to help her Mama in the kitchen as much as Maggie (those of you from church also know she is quite ready to stack chairs whenever the opportunity arises). Her creature-of-habitness does not allow us to ever miss a prayer before dinner, though her love of food occasionally allows a few bites to sneak in before grace is said. While her words are much fewer than her brother (though it's not actually difficult to have fewer words than Sam) and sister, her sweet smile speaks more than any I know.

Learning and loving these girls has been one of my chief joys over the past few months, though I know there is so much of them still unknown to me. They are beyond delightful just as they are- and yet I somehow end up with a double blessing, as I know that God is using them to teach and prepare me for the ones I have yet to learn and love. They have taught me beyond the concept of loving orphans with intellectual disabilities- they have taught me and allowed me the opportunity to actually and simply love.