Some of you asked for this--

When Jill was pregnant with Kim, she thought of the Old Testament psalm that says, "The Lord will keep you from all harm" (121:7). But then God gave us a "harmed" daughter. We didn't understand why. Thinking about that promise made Jill feel even worse. It hurt to hope.
When God gave us Kim, he gave us something we loved very much but couldn't control. She constantly drained our reserves. Jill and I are naturally quick, confident - and judgmental. Once, before Kim was born, Jill was washing the car in our driveway and our neighbor passed on the sidewalk. A young mother herself, she said to Jill, "I don't know how you have the strength to do everything that you do." Jill replied, "If you're organized, you can get a lot done. You should try it." Years ago, I was in downtown Philadelphia with a friend, and a street person passed us. He slurred out something incomprehensible to me, and I dismissed him. As we were walking away my friend asked me, "Why did you talk to him like that? He just wanted to know where the soup kitchen was."
I smile at the work of God displayed in our lives, at God's sense of humor. Jill and I have spent countless hours with Kim doing speech therapy, helping her articulate her slurred words. I've spent hundreds of hours programming Kim's speech computer, which she is very proficient at. Jill no longer has time to be organized. When I ask her where some money has gone, she smiles at me and tells me that she doesn't know. She has sworn off being organized. She just can't do it anymore.
God gave us Kim to keep us from all harm - to keep us from being so self-righteous and "together." God used Kim to bring us to the end of ourselves, to teach us about love, and to teach us about himself. Our lives no longer worked - we had to learn how to live from the bottom up. Like the blind man, we found glory in a most unexpected place.


Excerpt from "Love Walked Among Us"
Author, Paul Miller