While I was at camp, there were some people who wanted me to share my messages on my blogpage. I thought it might be better if I combined some of my thoughts.
The theme for camp this year was Molded for Purpose. When we are disabled we are often seen as people who need services and support and require a lot of money and take away from society, but it’s not how we are seen by God. I believe every person has value and was designed by God. If we are not aware of our value by God, we fill our lives with things that are entertaining and keep us busy and satisfy our own interests. But God sees all of us and has a place for each of our gifts and talents. He made us with special interests. We are all different. My talent is very different from someone else’s, but God gave that talent to me and only he knows how it can be used. He has a purpose and a place if we are open to it. Many times we get God confused with church. Church has its place, but it’s not all there is to God. People created church as we know it, but God created the people first. He knows us. If we were all alike, even God would be bored!
It hasn’t been too many years since God showed me how he could use the gifts he gave me. In 2000 I composed my first song with my friend Karen helping me get the song out on paper. Each year since then I have composed one song, because it takes an entire year to finish it. I didn’t know how God could use that. I was glad for the ability to compose music, but God started to use my songs to inspire people. I first noticed it when I shared my songs with the people at school, and how much it encouraged them. They were so eager for more. I don’t take a lot of credit for them. God gives me a song that is so strong it stays in my mind until I am able to get it out, one note at a time. It takes so long because I can’t play it myself, but Karen works really hard to make sure it is exactly the way I think it needs to be. It is so fun to be able to share those songs with others because they are a gift from God.
For those of us who live with great physical struggles this world does not value our lives. It is evident by the decisions that are made everyday on this earth. If that’s all there was most of us would find little reason to live. Because we are seen and valued by God who knows us better than any human could, our lives have purpose. It is not an easy life, but I don’t fear either living or dying. I have been close to God most of my life, and when my time comes to die, it will be a great thing. I am not going home to a stranger, but to my best friend. I talk with God about everything. It is not hard to be understood when I talk with God. I don’t have to use fancy words. I don’t have to struggle with it being a hard day to put my thoughts together. I am not limited by my ability to type that day.
I have value to God. He has created me with talents that only I can share with this world. I am not unique. I know that everyone has things they were created for. If we block what God has gifted us with, we not only limit ourselves, but we limit how God can use our lives. It is good to discover who we are in Gods eyes, not how limited we are by many in this world. We’ll discover that our lives have been molded for purpose. If we find our struggles in our minds and bodies to be all there is, it is a limited and hard life.
Love, Karly
Inspired By Love 