It's Not About Me

Our small group has been reading the book by Max Lucado "It's not about Me". There's a chapter in it about how our suffering is not about us, but about God. At first read, it's a pretty alien concept. Our pain, our circumstances are for God's glory. But what is so glorious about a crippled child?

I guess the answer to that lies in how we approach our lives. Do we get bogged down in the here and now, or do we think "Big Picture". In order for this to make sense, God must use a different value system than ours. In my "everyday" view of the world, there are so many things that simply cannot make sense for there to be a loving, powerful God. There is war, famine, disease, tsunamis, and sick children. How can that pain and suffering possibly be worth it? What possible glory can there be for God in a disabled child?

I think the key is that the things that we all take for granted as being important - health, safety, comfortable shoes, and even life itself have a different value in God's world. His values centre around a relationship with him. What our physical circumstances are on earth are of secondary importance. His view is eternal, and as a result, is completely different from ours. From time to time, I get a glimpse of this view. It radically changes my attitude and mood, and is extremely freeing. In these moments it is well with my soul. Pray that I would be able to extend the amount of time I live with this view. It might be the key to everything.

Hi, I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help you...

First off, this isn't as ominous as it sounds. Most of the contact we've had with the hundreds of government agencies that we are now aware of have been nothing but positive. As referenced in the "Dog Pile" blog a few weeks back, there's lots of organisations that want to help out. And we appreciate them.

The CCRA (Canada Customs and Revenue Agencies - the tax guys) don't seem to be one of them.

Last year we built a backyard playset for the kids. The plan was to put the pea gravel under it this year, since last year's budget was, well, rather tight. With Doug's balance issues, pea gravel isn't looking to be the way to go anymore. Those soft tiles seem to be the best fit for his needs - but they are PRICEY. A 2 foot square tile seems to be about $40-$50, and we need about 80 of them - just for the tiles. I've been in contact with a few manufacturers, and one of them in particular has been extrodinarily helpful. They seem willing to donate the tiles to us if we handle the shipping costs and if they can get a charitable contribution receipt. The idea is that they would donate to a charity who would give them to us. Except that the CCRA rules don't seem to allow that. I've tried about 3 different charities, and none are permitted to do that.

There may be another way yet, the Langley Child Development Centre has some accounting suggestions that may make this work yet. There may be a way for them to donate directly to us, and still get the tax break.

In the meantime, does anyone know how much it will cost me to get a 2500lb pallet from Ontario here?

Explaining it Simply

Today we told Samantha about Doug's situation. How do you explain the magnitude of something like this to a 5 year old? We basically told her that Doug has been going to the doctors a lot because his muscles aren't working right. It means that he has trouble with his walking and stuff, and that his balance isn't very good. Her job, as a big sister, is to help him out when he is having problems. She is supposed to be more aware of when she is playing running and pushing games with him that he will fall down easier - and it's not his fault. I also asked her to help watch out for him when playing with other kids. Maybe having some protective responsibility will help her feel like she's part of the support team.

I guess time will tell.