Let Your Fingers and Life Do the Talking

I believe, 100%, that God orchestrates my day. How I respond to it is my choice! Sometimes I choose correctly but more often then not-I learn from my mistakes.

Being a stay at home, I feel like my contact with non believers are limited. I know God called me to be home with the children so I have to trust Him not just for that part, but all of it.

A month or so ago I went to the video store all by myself. Two things odd about this:

1. I don't care for TV so the video store is not my kinda place to spend money.

2. I went by myself-no little people!

While at the video store I waited in a line typical of a weekend in the winter months-LONG!

I noticed the man in front of me writing, pointing and occasionally making a grunting noise. I realized he was deaf. Here is the kicker! I actually have a degree in education for deaf and hard of hearing so I should sign and sign well BUT I earned that degree over 10 years ago and never used the deaf and hard of hearing part of it. So I am a bit rusty-okay like take me to the recycling center rusty! I knew I was supposed to use what I did learn those 5 years and thousands of dollars later and use it.

So I pulled off my mittens- stuck my purse in my pocket and sat my video on the counter. I knew the edict and put myself all up in his business. It wasn't pretty, but I helped the guy get his appropriately rated video and talked a tiny bit- not too much because of the line behind us and my retention skills were equivalent to those of a 2 year old!

As I left that night with a smile on my face, I wondered if I would ever see that man again and what place our conversation about where I was from (apparently I even sign with a dialect!) had in the Kingdom.

Tonight, I took Billy and Dolly to return the videos My Dear had gotten them in the FREE kids section and let them choose another FREE movie.

As we were checking out, the clerk said, " I see a lot of people in here but I recognize you. You sign, don't you?" We then talked about that evening a bit. I thought God was working on the deaf man but He was doing something else.

When I look back on the night, that I was in the store and that my hands were not holding on to a little person....I see HIS hand. I march forward into the mission field He has called me....it is wherever I am and I HAVE to be ready! Think I will start frequenting the free section at the video store!

Deaf Culture Lesson: Deafness is a culture not a disability so you identify a person who is deaf with deaf followed by man, woman, person... like I did above. Disabilities are exactly the opposite-the man with mental retardations or the child who is blind-you put the person first then the disability.