Published by It’s a cold December day with snow on the ground, a good day to teach about the birth of Jesus and the meaning of Christmas. I decided to show my special needs students (which are disabled physically and mentally) a video about the birth of Jesus and how the wicked King Herod tried to have baby Jesus killed by killing all of the babies in Bethlehem. I thought this would be a great way to teach about the meaning of Christmas – celebrating the birth of Christ – a story many have heard over and over. I must admit even though my heart was in the right place, wanting to help these students come unto Christ, I had mentally fallen into the rut of “oh, one more time, the story of Jesus’ birth”. I was not fully prepared for what happened during the closing prayer.
Ryan, one of the students, volunteered to give the closing prayer. As he prayed he asked Heavenly Father, “to please help King Herod know how bad it is to kill babies, and how tender little babies are”. My heart was truly touched at how compassionate Ryan was not only towards the little babies and baby Jesus, but also towards King Herod and how he wanted God to help him to have compassion.
Ryan had not judged and dismissed King Herod completely because of his actions but wanted God to help him learn, grow, and progress. For Ryan the video was not just another showing of a story he had heard many times, but an experience with the story. Ryan did not just see or hear the story he lived it! It was real to him, thus his desire for King Herod to learn and repent was real. I was some what ashamed. I had only seen and heard the repetition of a story told many times before. Since then I have learned from Ryan and have tired to “live” God’s word and not just read them, I have tried to become less judgemental of others and to see them as God sees them (as Ryan saw them) – as his children. Maybe I could pray for my enemies too (as Ryan did) for God to help them and me.
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http://authspot.com/novels/being-taught-by-god-through-special-needs-students-part-3/
http://relijournal.com/christianity/being-taught-by-god-through-special-needs-students-part-four/
http://relijournal.com/christianity/being-taught-by-god-through-special-needs-students-part-five/
what an uplifting story. In a world where it is easy to see the “UnGodly”, it is great to hear about people looking for good in all of the places it can be found.
We can truely learn from these special children of Go. They are often closer to God in spirit than the most faithful of us who are not presented with these physical and mental challenges. Thanks for sharing your story!
I think I may take a little different track with those I disagree with from now on.
What a “fantastic” way to have a vital message revealed! Thank heaven for people with (dis)abilities…and variegation.
I was very touched by Michaels story. Having adopted special needs children ourselves, It is wonderful to hear childrens’ take on the Christmas story but for them to really undersand the meaning of compassion and forgiveness is really a touching moment. Michael is a great teacher adn I admire him very much.
Thank you for sharing this.
I have been deeply touched by Ryan’s message.