At Huntington College, we live in a large community, a happy island of believers surrounded by a secular world. Of course, we aren't all believers, nor are we always happy. Hitting on an accurate description of our community isn't easy. Perhaps the best label is Christian family.
Family love may be the best gift that God has given to us. Doing God's will in our lives is not always easy, but without our college family's help, it might be impossible. Mostly, of course, the hardest task is to figure out God's will. There was a time that conventional wisdom would never have predicted a college education for me. According to that conventional wisdom, I should be doing very trivial tasks in a sheltered workshop somewhere, tasks that I probably couldn't even do right, tasks that are extremely boring. Fortunately, God had a different plan for my life. Understanding that my fate was in God's hands, my parents and brother asked God to use my life for His glory, not understanding how He could do that.
Nobody could have predicted how God was going to answer that prayer. Some might have believed that Jesus would heal me in front of many witnesses. Some might have been more "realistic", expecting God to be glorified by the love showed to me by family and friends. I wasn't thinking that God would be glorified by me. From my point of view, I never hoped to escape from the bonds of my autism. No one could see who was inside my body.
Sometimes I still tried to show my intelligence. Nine years age, my school speech therapist recognized my efforts to point to words instead of pictures. She began to believe that I could read. Then my dad learned about Facilitated Communication (or FC), a method of communication. I was given a way to tell people who I really was.
I asked some questions about Jesus and why he died. I accepted Christ as my savior. One day I was asked to help train others to use FC. Never in the many chances since then that I've joined in such training sessions have I failed to give God the credit for my accomplishments. My story has helped to open the door to communication for many kids and adults. I have shared my testimony often.
I am not perfect, but God has chosen in His way to use me to glorify Him. He didn't heal me, though I'd love to be healed. He does, I'm sure, gain glory from the sacrificial love and care given me by family and friends. However, God chose a better way to find my role in glorifying Him and to answer my parents' prayers. I consider the path that I've followed from a special education classroom to the college classroom as nothing short of miraculous. In fact, I believe God's choice of how to answer my parents' prayers led to more miracles than a one-time healing ever would have.
I am trusting God's judgement about the best plan for my life, even though I remain unhealed. I just hope and pray that I can stay within His will.
Required classes, assigned papers, desserts at the dining commons, great basketball and chapel cards are components of our Huntington College family life. Another very important component that I'd like to see be part of our campus family is a prayer for each of us, student, administration and faculty, said by all of us, asking God to use your life and my life to glorify Him.
A miracle for each of us is waiting to happen, so each of our lives can glorify God. Let's help each other find that miracle by persistent daily prayer, asking that each of our lives glorify Him. Have a great summer!
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" Ephesians 3:20, 21
Ian Wetherbee 4/29/2000