This special needs parenting journey can be challenging, lonely, and isolating. I remember begging God to send me a new friend and a supportive community who could be my companions on this painful journey I was traveling.
The first supportive communities I found were online, in special needs parenting Facebook groups, and with Key Ministry’s online community groups. It felt great to know there were people in the world in similar situations who could share their questions, their struggles, and victories.
Sitting in Your Circumstances
There’s a Bible passage I read that totally changed my perspective on why we need community, especially when we’re struggling with hard circumstances. It’s found in 2 Kings 7:3-9, situated in the middle of a story about a great famine in the city of Samaria. The Arameans had surrounded Samaria, cutting off all access to supplies. The Samaritans experienced a great famine until they surrendered. The Samaritan king blamed God, saying, “This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?” Outside the city, the Arameans were enjoying their wealth and victory over the starving Samaritans trapped inside.
It is in these circumstances that we meet four unlikely heroes. “Now there were four men with leprosy sitting at the entrance of the city gate.” 2 Kings 7:3.
I can relate to these four men. They longed for full bellies, healthy bodies, and happy hearts. They longed to be part of community, for life to be a little easier, for life to go as they had expected it to go.
Instead, they find themselves sitting at a gate in the middle of a famine, cut off from their families and friends, their bodies wasting away from leprosy. Depression probably set in, along with anger at God, who—like their king—blamed God for their circumstances. They may have sat and wallowed in their misery.
Source: Special Needs Parenting- Key Ministry
