October 20 2915

October 20 1015 Greetings My Friend I marvel again this morning as I look out the window. A hummingbird stops by for a drink from the feeder. Once in awhile I see 2nd birds but that’s it. The other birds have been gone since the end of September. We are continuing to keep the water in the feeder fresh for these stragglers and I marvel each day when I see them again. Being the worry wart I can be I wonder if there is something wrong and that is why he has not left. I wonder how long they can last in the winter in our area. Now there are flowers they can get nectar from but….and that but scares me. After I stop the worrying I think that this bird is going against the norm. Junior thinks he will fly away at the right time and be okay. This bird reminds me that we too as humans have moments when we run in a different direction than the norm. Many believers in Jesus tend to find that they are not the same as the “norm” as we strive to walk down a different path. My health issues can make me feel different too. I was out with my walker yesterday and I was surprised at the helpful people that wanted to open a door or make a path way. I was touched by their generosity. It was a new awakening for me. We stopped to eat at a restaurant, the server that seated us seemed to have an attitude. For me it was easy to think that it was due to the walker I made things difficult and she did not appreciate our being there. She may have been someone who tended to be cranky in general but for me I wondered if it was because I was inconvenient. As a follower of Jesus I make the decision to walk a different path and I understand that the way I walk is my choice. It is hard at times, God usually helps me to work out the discomfort and go the way He is directing me. As a person with disabilities that is not a choice I made but one I live with. Overall we have come a long way from the days where people did not want to see the disabled in public because they were hard to “look” at. Dad comes to mind. After he learned to walk again after polio he looked strange. He often was mistaken for a drunk. Dad was using his back muscles to balance himself and propel him forward. His one leg did not always respond well. In fact when he wanted to cross his legs he would have to lift the leg to place it on top of the other. One time at a shopping center he tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and fell down. He struggled to upright himself and a crowd of people stood there staring and making comments about the drunk who could not get up. Dad wasn’t drunk, he was disabled and the others did not understand or even offer to help him get up. He managed to upright himself and go on his way. The people with an invisible illness get a lot of flack today. Many think we make up our illness, we look lazy to others. The fact is getting out of bed and functioning day to day can be a huge challenge. We may not need a walker, a wheelchair or carry an oxygen tank with us but we still need handicapped parking just the same. On days where I feel so weak I need to get back to the car quickly I may have been perceived as taking a handicapped spot I don’t appear to need. We all have our struggles that no one else sees and it helps if we don’t have to defend ourselves just because we are sick but don’t look sick. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet