"Smiley"
This week God asked me to do something I didn’t feel prepared for. The first day I dug my heals in and really questioned God. The next day I reminded myself of all the things God has asked me to do over the last fourteen years and the blessings that have resulted. Today, I am excited about all of the possibilities!
In 2008 God prompted me to start teaching children about abilities and disabilities. We first learned about our own and then it was easier to be understanding of someone else’s. I put together a month long unit on disabilities. I explained disabilities, talked about accommodations, shared how to be polite, let my students experience disabilities, and I introduced them to amazing people affected by them. During the month I had my teaching assistant by my side. She gave me confidence and she helped me break down misconceptions the children might have.
My assistant, “Smiley,” came into my life about six years ago. In previous years I had borrowed a wheelchair from a relative to use with my students. It was large and cumbersome so I started praying one summer that God would bring me a child’s wheelchair. I had a number of connections that would be able to provide me with one, but I wanted to know that it came from God and I wasn’t using a chair that needed to go to a child instead. I quietly prayed for a month and waited to see what God might do.
Then one day I heard a knock on my classroom door. My students were gathered around me in “Circle Time.” Our copier repair man opened the door and said, “I hear you might want a child’s wheelchair. I have one for you.”
I started to cry. I was overwhelmed by how God chose to bless me. My little buddy even had a smiley face. I shared my prayer request with my students and they all named my new teaching assistant, “Smiley.”
Over the years, with 100+ students, Smiley has taught about disabilities and has broken down some walls. A wheelchair is no longer scary because they have popped wheelies and raced down the hall to the lunchroom in a wheelchair. When it was time to start our fundraising efforts for Joni and Friends, the kids understood the value of mobility and were so excited to raise money and collect wheelchairs.
At the end of my unit on disabilities, in my last year of teaching, my students told me that I needed to donate the wheelchair but I wasn’t ready and wanted to use it for some speaking engagements. God has told me it is time now.
I will miss my little buddy but I am excited about the child that will receive it. May Smiley bring joy to a little boy or girl and take him/her on many exciting adventures. I hope God lets me hear the story of where my chair ends up. I will miss you, Smiley!
