Elizabeth

I’d heard about Elizabeth long before I got to meet her last week. Everyone had told me how happy she was and such a joy to be around. They set my expectations high, but when the day came I found she totally is that cool.

Elizabeth was born with spina bifida. But from lack of proper care at the Ark in Rehoboth, she ended up dragging her legs to get around. Had she received the care she needed she may have been walking by now, but from all the dragging, one of her feet got an infection down to the bone and had to be amputated. Praise God, she now has a proper wheelchair and people who love and look after her. And despite all that she’s gone through, that contagious smile never leaves her face.

The past few school breaks she’s been coming from Rehoboth to stay with Nan. That’s where I met her. She wanted to keep playing Uno over and over. At first she got upset when I would drop a Draw 2, but then she started thanking me because it helped her get more cards she could use for revenge. :)

Getting to know Elizabeth has made me think how easily we get bitter and upset when things don’t go the way we want them to. But by doing that we’re basically telling God He’s not doing a good enough job. He obviously messed up because something didn’t go according to our plans. In the allegory Hinds Feet on High Places, Much-Afraid is traveling from the Valley of Humiliation to the High Places. She is heartbroken when the path the Shepherd marked out for her leads her through the desert in the opposite direction of the High Places, but it’s in the desert where she learns to call herself “Acceptance-with-Joy”. Elizabeth reminds me that whatever path the Shepherd has marked out for me, I too must humbly say, “I am your servant, Acceptance-with-Joy.”