Have you ever been just be-bopping through life and then suddenly get hit so hard that you lose your breath? Unexpectedly. Without warning. Sucker punched in the gut. That is what happened to me Tuesday evening. I had gone back into my ManCave to watch some video clips for my upcoming sermon series. When done I decided to tune in ESPN to catch some baseball before I headed out to watch NCIS with Jo. E:60, which I have never watched before, was on and the sucker punch came. Two stories laid me out. On the good chance you didn’t get a chance to see it, please find about 14 minutes or so (and some kleenex) and watch this story of Heath White and his daughter, Paisley.
I sat there with tears streaming down my face as I was sucker punched by the power of this story. I don’t know the religious background of the Whites, but then again that isn’t what really matters in this story. What matters is the love of a father for his “less-than-perfect” daughter.
Reminds me of another Father, one who loves in spite of His “less-than-perfect” creation. “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom.5:8 Reminds me of this song that has a powerful message.
Any thoughts? By the way, there was another story on E:60 that same evening that will be the feature of a future post.
I have always been an emotional sort. I tear up quite easily. It can be real life stories, passages in the books that I read, or even cartoons that I watch with my daughter (e.g. Toy Story 3).
I have found myself doing that the older I get. Nothing wrong with that though.
I am thankful that despite the imperfection I’m born with, my Father loves me so much that He made the ultimate sacrifice for me.
No argument here on that.
Hi Bill,
What would life be like for us if it were all perfect in our ‘imperfection’? The best society is one who can appreciate and care for those who are imperfect. A society who can make room for those who are imperfect. We ourselves are imperfect yet society often demands a type of ‘perfection’ that it wants from people.
We have a society today in North America that is screaming ‘tolerance’ in one or two areas, but this same society has been so ‘intolerant’ of others such as those with disability for hundreds of years.
People don’t know how to react to physical or mental imperfection in others. Mr. White learned how valuable his ‘imperfect’ daughter really is to him. And to society as a whole.
Well said Linda. It would do us all well to adjust our thinking concerning “imperfect” people.
Beautiful. And I’m a fairly emotional person. I’ve been known to tear up at a well-done commercial. 🙂 Thinking of this and the love of God, I remember reading something once that really made sense. The author said that a mother with a disabled child doesn’t love the child in SPITE of the disability. She loves the child. So too our Father doesn’t despise our brokenness (as we sometimes think), He just loves us. He’s not tolerating us, He loves us. Amazing! Thanks for sharing this, Bill.
Great thought Jason. He just loves us. Very cool! Thanks for sharing that.
I got sucker punched a few years back pulling out of my street on my way to work. It was a game day and I was already thinking about it. I caught something out of the corner of my eye; it was a blind girl making her way to school with her stick. About ten yards behind her was her dad. He was trying to make sure she could make her way in life when he wouldn’t be around to help her.
The tears in my eyes changed my perspective for the day and in some ways forever…
I know what you mean…
That is exactly what I am talking about Floyd. Great story. Thanks for sharing it.
With our first pregnancy, some early tests revealed that our little one could potentially be born with Down’s – or a host of other birth defect, some really nasty and fatal. He was born perfectly normal without any defects, but we did have to wrestle emotionally with the possibility of having a kid with disabilities. It was eye-opening, so I can really understand what this guy was going through.