I remember thinking that having a child with severe disabilities would be one of the worst things that could ever happen to a person. I remember sitting in the cry room at church watching a couple that sat back there with their grown son.

The son was very animated and loudly asked the same questions over and over. When the singing began he would leap up, joyously clapping and belting out any word he might recognize, usually just "Jesus."  I felt sick for them.

Today, as I sit back in that same cry room with Brett, I think what I wouldn't give to see that joy on Brett's face, to see him leap up and loudly sing out Jesus' name.

Recently we had about a dozen special needs passengers on board. One fifty-ish man was particularly thrilled to be on an airplane. He excitedly grasped my hand and asked me how I was. Pre-Brett I would have been uncomfortable, not wanting him to touch me and doing my best not to make eye contact. That day I was filled with genuine affection for him. His uninhibited joy and friendliness was contagious. I didn't even mind that he asked me 20 times if we were almost to Detroit. When one of the women asked me for a seat belt extension for her friend, she made it seem like a good thing. She was proud of her friend for managing to grow big enough to need an extension. Good job!

Having Brett has had the same effect on Bob. One day one of his customers mentioned that his wife was waiting in the the car with their mentally impaired grown daughter. Bob encouraged him to bring them in. The daughter was non-verbal, just sat there letting out a few whoops now and then. Bob said when he looked at her he was overwhelmed with love for her and impulsively told her parents that he loved them. They sat in stunned silence...who expects their car salesman to tell them he loves them?

After they had signed all the paperwork and left, the man returned to the showroom, hugged Bob and told him he loved him too. I love that story. I love that through loving and caring for Brett, God has changed us...our perspective and our hearts. I love seeing that what these special people may lack in ability, God has compensated for with an abundance of joy.