God really lavished His love on our family this weekend as we spent a weekend with a couple who understood grace. We have hardly ever felt more comfortable being with another couple; they accepted us as we were and blessed us regardless of our faults.
As a part of that weekend we also were blessed to return to Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Oklahoma, home of another gracious man and pastor, Wade Burleson. It was wonderful to hear Wade preach again, experience the health of his church, and to enjoy the fellowship of believers.
Wade is currently preaching a series on the names of Jesus as found in Isaiah 9:6. His focus this week was “Counselor.” He noted that Jesus, as Counselor, is our advisor, our advocate, our attendant and our all in all. As an attorney, I definitely understand being an advisor and an advocate, but it wasn’t until I was a missionary that I really understood what it meant to be an attendant.
Meeting Hector and Ian at the Sean Kelley Training Center was when I first truly began to understand what it meant for me that Jesus is my attendant. Hector, the man on the left, is a partially sighted individual, having been injured in a motorcycle accident. Ian, the young man in front of my son, Tanner, is a 20-year old South African boy who has a brilliant brain trapped inside of a body that doesn’t function properly. He cannot walk, talks with great difficulty, and cannot use his hands. He is dependent on Hector to change his diaper, feed him, and, most of all, to love him.
In watching Hector’s devotion to Ian I began to understand that Jesus is just as devoted to me, and that He desires that I be just as devoted to others. As I grow in understanding that Jesus feeds me, loves me, hugs me, massages me, caresses me, comforts me, and transforms me, I am beginning to see that I am free to do the same for others as He leads. May I grow in grace and learn to be a humble attendant to those in need.