I was having my quiet time this morning, and it was just that…nice and quiet.
I stepped out of the room for a few minutes and when I came back, this is what I saw.
“Aaron,” I asked, “what are you doing on the bed?”
“I’m just being right here,” he flatly answered.
I had to smile. He certainly was just being right there. He didn’t care one bit that he was messing up the bed that I try to keep all tidy and neat and unwrinkled. He didn’t care one bit that he was interrupting my quiet time.
Aaron is right here in our lives every day. He is right here because God has placed him here.
No matter where we go, with or without Aaron, he is right here in our lives and in our thoughts…in our planning…in our EVERYTHING.
Yesterday he was right here, in the Wal-Mart aisle as I turned the corner, happily oblivious to any thought that he was most unusual as he knelt on the floor to retrieve his favorite candy.
He was right here recently after a night of seizures, waiting for me to pray before he ate his fried eggs, and we watched an episode of The Waltons.
And more often than I enjoy, Aaron is also right here in his autistic frustrations that interrupt our life and often dictate our routines.
Just like that crumpled bedding that once was smooth, Aaron can most definitely cause lots of wrinkles in what was at one point a smooth and happy day.
How I handle my emotions during those many moments is up to me, which is why I was SO excited to find this picture recently that I instantly knew MUST go above my quiet time desk.
Today I choose joy!
Not because I have some super perfect power to do so.
But because I know the One Who does have the power to give me joy.
Oh, trust me, I lose my temper and I get very frustrated and all the other “stuff” that comes with being human.
But Jesus is right beside me with His forgiveness and with His nudging toward joy.
How about you? What is right here in your life that is hard? Make a conscious effort to choose joy and just see what God will do for you.
“And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
(Nehemiah 8:10)
He Said What?! 