When God made me, he grinned

Sometimes God places extraordinary people in our path. If we’re paying attention, they become our greatest spiritual teachers.

Every Fourth of July, my wife and I vacation at Hilton Head. Each year, I hope our visit overlaps with Rachel’s. Except for the pandemic year, it always has.

Rachel is in her twenties and was born with cerebral palsy. But if you met her by the pool, you’d probably notice her smile before her disability. Her laugh. Her love for Clemson football. The way she effortlessly befriends strangers.

We’ve had some deep and beautiful conversations. Once, Rachel told me about being teased throughout school because of her disability and the cruel names other children called her. It broke my heart. Then she grinned. Without warning, she burst into Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive. She sang every word with a confident smile. It wasn’t simply a song. It was her testimony.

Life hasn’t spared Rachel from sorrow. She has buried a beloved grandfather and an aunt. She also experienced rejection from a church that wouldn’t let her serve in children’s ministry. Eventually, she found another church that welcomed her gifts. She did what she always does: she loved people. Before long, friends followed her there, some eventually being baptized.

This year Rachel was wearing a T-shirt that I haven’t forgotten. It read, When God made me, he grinned and said, “This will be fun.” I couldn’t help but smile.

Maybe that’s exactly what happened. Not because Rachel’s life has been easy, but because God delights in creating people who reflect something unique of his love. Rachel has a gift for joy. She has an uncanny ability to make people feel seen. She leaves every conversation a little brighter than she found it.

Rachel lives with a childlike trust in God. She doesn’t spend her energy wishing she were someone else. She receives the life she has been given and offers it back to God with remarkable freedom.

I wonder how often we measure people by what they cannot do instead of discovering the gifts they quietly bring into the world.

This year I said to Rachel, “You have a lot of friends.”  She agreed.

Then I mused, “Outside of my wife, I really don’t have many friends.”

Without missing a beat, Rachel corrected me. “You have me.”

Rachel reminds me of Jesus’ parable about the treasure hidden in a field (Matthew 13:44-46). Every time I hear that parable, I wonder how many people walked past that field without ever realizing what was buried just beneath the surface.

Perhaps God is still placing extraordinary people in our path every day. The question is not whether they are there. The question is whether we will recognize them.