My daughter Katy could not talk, or stand up on her own from sitting or sit down on her own from standing.  She couldn’t control her hands very well, but what she could do was connect with the spiritual world and see the needs of people around her.  

Her silent way didn’t limit her ability to impact people’s lives. She would powerfully pray for people, or touch them and bring healing to their hearts.  Without words.

Katy’s favorite way to express love, if she really likes hanging out with you is to give you “nose-ies.”  Which would mean to press her forehead against your forehead and her nose against your nose.  Sometimes she would stare into your eyes and you both go crosseyed!    It is very intimate.  It is a silent, sweet and wonderful exchange of spirit to spirit love and acceptance.  She even did it with her animal friends.

You don’t typically do this with strangers, because it is very intimate. You see, when you press your forehead and nose to another, you feel the warmth of their skin on your skin.  You feel their breath on your face. You see the exact color of their eyes. 

But Katy is a barrier breaker and could get people to do things they wouldn’t normally do. I don’t know where she got that from? 😆  There are stories of Katy breaking down walls in strangers…for another blog someday.

You know, the special needs world is not anything anyone signs up for.  You get thrown into it; but there are benefits.  You know God doesn’t waste anything if you’re looking for it.  

Believe it or not, I am actually an introvert who just likes people too.  That’s Jesus for you.  If you start as an introvert, He will shift you toward extravert and if you start as extrovert, He will shift you toward introvert…You don’t get to be one extreme or the other.

So us introverts tend to internally process everything.  Lots going on inside, but usually in silence.  But THEN I had a daughter who suddenly couldn’t speak anymore.

It didn’t take too long to realize that it was easy to just be silent all day if the other person in the room isn’t talking.  So I had to decide to intentionally begin narrating our day to day story.  Moms do this anyway, it was just that I had to anticipate or perceive her questions and then answer them too.

I wanted Katy to understand what I was doing and why I was doing certain things.  The girl has got a good brain!

So I wanted her to learn about my world, learn at least intellectually how I did things even if she could never do them herself. YET!  I always believed there would be one day when she would be able to.

So I began to narrate.  It was one of the few ways I could include her in everything I was doing, thinking, feeling.  She would always perk up and pay attention.  Enjoying our time together.

You know what? That works with God too!  Except I don’t necessarily have to say it out loud.  But all day long as I go about things at work, at home, as I drive, take a shower, cook…whatever. All day long!

Do you remember during COVID, “The Blessing” song came out just when it was so needed?  At one point in the song they said: “In the morning and the evening, in your coming and your going, in your weeping and rejoicing, He is for you! He is for you!”  Truth.

So in whatever your are doing throughout your day, share it with HIM!  He is listening anyway.  But He wants you to engage in conversation with Him.  That means he will probably speak at times too.

Just like Katy, He is ever present, but usually silent on the outside.  Just like with Katy, it is easy to forget He’s there if you’re not in conversation with Him.

But He really wants you to understand what He is doing and why He is doing it. He wants you to learn about the motivations of His heart and how He really feels about you.

Just like any relationship, the more time you spend together the better you get to know one another and the more your friendship develops.  You get to trust one another and have certain expectations.  You come to know each other in the intimacy of your hearts.

Katy taught me how to be friends with Jesus in a whole new way.