Different, Not Less

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Church culture often overlooks a startling reality - while 25% of Americans have a disability, 80% aren't in our churches. This disconnect between our theology and practice demands a shift in perspective to recognize that different is not less.

• Every person is created in God's image, regardless of ability
• Society constantly whispers that those with disabilities are "less than"
• Parenting a child with disabilities involves navigating both internal and external challenges
• God's plan may look different than expected, as illustrated by Tracy's foster care journey
• Stephanie Hubach's book "Parenting and Disabilities: Abiding in God's Presence" offers a valuable perspective
• Knowing a child's diagnosis in advance creates a different journey than discovering needs gradually
• God values diversity and has imparted dignity to every person
• The body of Christ requires diversity to function as designed

For deeper dives into these topics and more, check out indispensable-people.com and visit Amazon to purchase the books "The Indispensable Kid," "Gospel Accessibility," and "The Indispensable People."

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, my name is Tracy Correll and welcome to
Indispensable People.
I'm a wife, mom, teacher,pastor and missionary and I
believe that every person shouldhave the opportunity to know
Christ, grow in Him and serveHim with the gifts that he has
given, no matter their ability.
Over 65 million Americans havea disability.
That's 25% of the population.

(00:26):
However, over 80% of them arenot inside the walls of our
church.
Let's dive into those hardtopics biblical foundations,
perceptions and welcome to thisepisode of Indispensable People.

(00:54):
Today, we're talking about astatement that says your child
is different, not less.
I am a huge fan of StephanieHubak and I might be saying that
wrong, but I have read her bookSame Link, different Boat.
I just picked up Parenting andDisabilities Abiding in God's

(01:16):
Presence.
It's a 31-day devotional forlife, meant for parenting, and I
love her perspective.
Stephanie has a son with, Ibelieve, down syndrome.
He's an adult at this point andshe shares all kinds of stuff.

(01:36):
I've shared about her in pastepisodes and I really wanted to
focus on this particular one.
I've had a recent experienceand I kind of went back and
forth as to whether I was goingto share it, simply because I'm

(01:56):
not sure why it turned out theway that it turned out, but
that's okay.
Just this past week I attendedthe Ohio Ministry Network
Conference and it is aconference um for ministers of
the pastors started to have withmy husband and they mentioned

(02:30):
some foster care initiative ormovement that they're bringing
to Ohio and they discussed howreally foster care and special
needs come together so often andhow ill-prepared that so many

(02:53):
people are in helping, and sothe discussion was that maybe my
husband and I would be able toserve in some capacity to help
bridge that gap with thatinitiative.
As it comes to Ohio, and whilewe're sitting in the business
meeting voting on you know,positions and placements and all
the other kind of stuff, Itexted my husband, who was

(03:15):
sitting right next to me, thatmaybe that particular piece is
the fulfillment of what we feltwas a call to foster several
years ago.
So I will tell you that whenour son Noah was about four
years old, he came out of hisbedroom and said to us Mom, dad,

(03:41):
there are kids without homesand I think we should give a kid
a home Now.
We spent a lot of Noah'schildhood somewhat struggling
and figuring out what his needswere and where we were and how
we were going to do things.
And then we went into ministryand that brought along its own

(04:02):
pieces and parts.
And so probably six years agowe started because things in our
home had tamed down and we feltlike we had a handle on things.
We felt comfortable movingtoward foster care and we took

(04:24):
all of our classes.
The only thing left we had todo was our home study.
And then I got sick with COVIDand when I came home obviously I
had a lot of health and healingto do.
And then my kids who in a sensethought their mom was going to

(04:46):
die had just been through atraumatic experience and
especially for Noah, we did notwant to push any more big
emotional things for a while.
Want to push any more bigemotional things for a while.
So again, foster care went onthe back burner and we didn't

(05:06):
know or make a plan for when itwould be revived or brought back
out again and we're just kindof waiting for God's plan to do
that.
And so I said to my husbandmaybe you know, maybe this is
kind of the fulfillment of thatcalling, maybe it just looks
different than what we hadoriginally thought.

(05:27):
So during the same day anotherperson came up to us.
They're actually a foster carerepresentative and her husband
handles church multiplication.
Foster care representative andher husband handles church
multiplication.
And we had just said how all ofthose worlds can collide,
especially as a church is beingplanted.
What great resources for themto have as they're beginning

(05:52):
their church.
You know, understanding specialneeds ministry from the
beginning and serving familiesimpacted by disabilities, and we
would love to partner with them.
And so that just became its ownconversation.
And then, out of nowhere, thewife says hey, do you happen to
know a family that would bewilling to take a baby with

(06:19):
complex medical needs?
And I looked at my husband andmy husband looked at me and his
eyes filled with tearsimmediately and we said we would
Now a couple of days passed,and come to find out they had
already found placement for thebaby, which is fantastic.

(06:41):
Our family had spent a coupleof days praying for whatever
that looked like, whether wewere the family or whether, you
know, there was another familyfor her.
We prayed for her health andyou know all kinds of stuff in
that direction and you know, Idon't know what or why you know,

(07:01):
but we were willing, and soI've been processing a lot of
things during that time andsince then, because, you know,
when Noah was born, we didn'tknow that he would have any
diagnoses.
We didn't know, you know thatthere would be struggles in his

(07:25):
development or you know thesocial anxieties and ADHD and
epilepsy and all that kind ofstuff.
We, you know that was not.
There was no indicator at thatpoint and actually whenever they
asked us if we wanted anytesting to find out if there
were, there was anything goingon, we said absolutely not,

(07:46):
because it's not going to changewhat we're going to do or how
we're going to do, and it may ormay not be a thing and we don't
want to spend the rest of thepregnancy worrying about that.
And so it was.
You know, finding out over timeand having the experience of not

(08:07):
knowing what was going on butthinking something was going on.
And you know hearing from oneperson, you know you're
overreacting, you just need tobe more this as a parent, or all
that kind of stuff.
To the pediatrician sayingdon't judge your children
between each other.
You know every kid is different.
All that kind of stuff.

(08:28):
And me knowing in my gut thatsomething was going on and
something and my son needed help, and so there were so many
struggles and so many things tofigure out and with the
acceptance of this baby and I'mnot going to give you any
details because I don't want toshare things that are private

(08:50):
but we were given the diagnosisand we were giving the
probabilities and thepossibilities and we walked into
it knowing and I thought someof that is intimidating because
the list was long, the needswere really big and then, at the

(09:14):
same time, the grieving processthat I had to go through with
Noah and the understanding ofwhat I thought his life would be
like for him and the directionof going and building an
understanding of who he is andwho he is in God and how God can

(09:34):
use him in incredible and inmighty ways, no matter his
ability.
I didn't have to take that samepath with this consideration of
this baby, no-transcript.
And Noah also lives a life thathe can get a job, he can live

(09:57):
on his own, he can do things.
Some things might be a strugglefor him and more difficult than
most people have to deal with,but the possibilities still
exist for him, whereas for thischild most likely not, most

(10:18):
likely not.
And so then there weredifferent thoughts and there
were different things that camein and the feelings of a parent
and the love that you have forthe child.
It just hits different.
I always say that I'm reallygood at helping other people
process and deal with and workthrough their things, but when
it comes to my child I'm justmush on the floor and deal with
and work through their things,but when it comes to my child

(10:39):
I'm just mush on the floor, notsure what to do.
And so when I opened upStephanie's book Abiding in
God's Presence, day one saysyour child is different, not
less, and the scripture cited isso God created man in his own
image and in the image of God.
He created him male and female.
He created them.
And Stephanie goes on to talk alittle bit about her son, but

(11:03):
then goes into the book or latersays as a parent of a child
with disabilities, you are nodoubt painfully aware that
whispers of water boy can bedirected toward your child in
countless different ways.
The whispers may not be loud,but they are there.
In spite of the advances inlegal protections on behalf of

(11:27):
those with disabilities, theperception that they are less
than still permeates theatmosphere.
These societal whispers canbegin to get under our skin.
And she says in God's economy,however, different is not less
than In the opening chapter ofscripture, god reminds us of the

(11:50):
simple truth that he lovesdiversity and has imparted value
to every human being.
He has created humankind to bediverse at the most fundamental
level, that of male and female.
Even more notable is that Godcreates every human being in his
image.
Every one of us is created withgreat value and awesome

(12:11):
responsibility to bear God'scharacter in the world.
There is no higher form ofdignity and there is no greater
calling.
God doesn't make water boys, itsays.
He creates image bearers, humanbeings blessed with the
privilege of reflecting God'scharacter through whatever
God-given capacities theypossess.

(12:34):
This reality is caught more thantaught.
It is conveyed in how we treatothers, in our relationships and
in how we treat our childrenthroughout the day, when you
encounter whispers of the waterboy, remembering that, although
your child may be different, heor she is not less.
Your child is endowed withinherent dignity.
So, as an image bearer,yourself reflect God's goodness,

(12:59):
truth and beauty into the world, and how you respond to others
and's image.

(13:19):
There's no higher form ofdignity, there is no greater
calling, and this is where we goback to the understanding and
knowledge and belief thatscripture is for everyone and he

(13:40):
doesn't take a single thingaway and there's a plan and a
purpose from a sovereign God whosaw, who knew, who formed, who
understood, who sees a biggerpicture than you and I could
ever dream of.
And if you are not a parent of achild with disabilities, that's
okay.
You'll be able to utilize thisinformation as you encounter

(14:09):
others who are and to let themknow that their child may be
different in the world, but inGod's economy, they're not less
than that.
He honors and highlights theirdifferences, because diversity

(14:31):
is what gets the job done in thebody of Christ job done in the
body of Christ, and that there'sno higher form of dignity and
there is no greater calling thanto be an image bearer.
That's absolutely incredible.
Do I know everything aboutdisability ministry?
Do I have all the answers?

(14:52):
Have I done everythingperfectly?
I have absolutely not, but weare going to continue this
conversation so that people ofall abilities can have the
opportunity to know Christ, growin Him and serve Him with the
gifts that he has given them.
For deeper dives into thesetopics and more, check out

(15:13):
indispensablepeoplecom and visitAmazon to purchase the books
the Indispensable Kid and GospelAccessibility and the
Indispensable People.