Drawn and thin, the teenage hospital patient sat for hours in the waiting room communicating with his friends through the Internet.  They sent messages and talked.  He laughed and typed.  Looking at pictures sent to him, he would respond and receive even more messages.  He was using a social media that I’d not seen before called My Space.  This was perhaps 10 years ago and my mother was in the hospital.   As I observed the young man and his Internet activities, I realized that I was watching the beginnings of a new world.  It was my first introduction to the importance that the Internet played in the lives of people under 30 years old.

Later, several teens came to visit at our home.  Sure, they filled their hours with computer games but they, also, played “shopping games” using online stores.  Filling their carts at various items, they did “virtual” shopping without actually purchasing anything.  In fact, these young men and women spent no time in front of the TV but gathered around the computer entertaining themselves for hours.

When I began to blog, I had only one true goal, I wanted ministry to person’s with developmental disabilities to have a presence on the Internet.  I had seen that people under 30 use this resource for every imaginable activity.  They play, shop, pretend, work and communicate on the Internet.

Three years later, after a good deal of resistance, I opened a FaceBook page.  Then a Twitter account (@lindaghoward).  My son wanted me to be able to SKYPE.  He set up that account for me.  I have a LinkedIn account.  I text messages to my grandchildren, rather than email or make a phone call because that is how they want to hear from me.

While this constant learning process is probably good for my brain, I was thrilled that my blog can now automatically forward to my FaceBook page and my Twitter account.  There is a limit to the time I want to invest inside this “brave new world.”

Eventually, the question must become, how much is enough?  Juggling the Internet options available can become a full-time occupation.  Those brave young men and women who seem to coast effortlessly from one Internet function to another are a marvel; but I’ve seen that even they aren’t able to keep all the balls in the air at the same time.  One avid Twitter tweeted, “My wife says to return to real life with her.  We are taking a few days off.”

I’m reminded of Solomon who wrote that there is no end to the number of books that can be written.  In like manner, there is no end to the number of ways you can use the Internet in your ministry.  However, Solomon concluded that we are to beware because much study wearies the mind and body.

What are the Internet programs that you find essential to conducting your life and connecting with the Lord?  What are some of the things you would like to access but you don’t have time to do?

The first Thursday of each year was declared as the National Day of Prayer in 1988.  Harry Truman signed legislation in 1952 to establish an annual day of prayer but it was a different day each year until the 1988 law as passed.  Of course, throughout the history of the US, from time to time, days of prayer have been declared by Congress or Presidential proclamation.

Across the nation at various times during the day, Christians will gather Thursday, May 5 to pray at churches, outdoor parks, school yards, inside and outside city hall buildings.  They will stop at state houses and state capitol buildings to pray.

The largest event will be a webcast in which Joni Eareckson Tada will the be main speaker.  Mrs. Tada is serving as the 2011 Honorary Chairperson for the National Day of Prayer Task Force.  Her position is of great significance within the disability community because she has been paralyzed from the neck down since a diving accident at the age of 19.

This is a portion of the message she has written regarding this year’s day of prayer.

If you don’t think every day is a great and blessed day, try living without one.

I was a bit shocked to read in Ecclesiastes that Solomon said that there will always be books and reading too much will confuse you.  God understands that we will never learn everything about any subject.  When I was a young woman, I learned the importance of studying and reading the Bible.  I thought that information about God would transform my life.

I did my daily Bible reading.  I read and studied books that my church recommended.  But my worries and concerns didn’t seem to be changing.  Then I found a book.  Go Home and Tell was written by Bertha Smith, a missionary in China. Something happened as I read her book.  I began to see things beyond the pages.  I could see myself and my short comings.  I also saw who I could become through the power of the Holy Spirit.  While I didn’t understand it at the time, I received my first revelation from the Lord.

There is a powerful difference between information and revelation.  From that day, I was able to see beyond the information found of the pages of the Bible.  Sure, I wanted to understand what the author was saying to the people to whom it was written; but like a mirror held before me, I could see things in my life that needed changing.  I began to see some of what God was seeing when he looked at me, his child.  I saw future possibilities and godly results that were available for me.

Each time I teach or share with the members of Special Gathering, a ministry within the mentally challenged community, I desire to help them to receive more than information about God.  The revelation of God’s word is a powerful thing.  I pray that God’s supernatural power will reach out and help each person to see and hear the needs and desires of their own hearts.  I pray that they will understand their potential and how God can use them.

One of our teachers is uniquely gifted in helping our members discover God’s purpose in their lives.  Several of our members are seeing how much Jesus sacrificed for them.  They are discovering supernatural revelations from the Scriptures.  These revelations extend beyond the black and white words on the page.  ”Each week,” the teacher reports, “we see new growth. Last week, after Brian talked about his health problems, Denise said, ‘Let’s pray for him right now.’  They gathered around him and prayed.  I didn’t need to say a word.”  One of the higher functioning members has become her co-teacher.  Betty has always been jealous of another member but that jealousy has turned into love as they pray together and learn God’s word sitting at the same table, sharing a Bible.

Can people who are developmentally disabled understand complicated theology?  No.  Can they understand God?  Oh, yes.  In fact, armed with revelations of God, they can understand better than the rest of us.

What are some of the things God has shown you from the Bible?  Do you see these things while reading or while talking about the passage?

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Need a new outlook?

Perhaps a new hat will help.  In this case, one size does not fit all.

Photos:  China by Herman Verbeek and Bible Class by Prayingmother