Bloom Where You Are Planted

Last Friday was a beautiful summer day. Tom and I drove up to see our Amish friends to purchase some freshly baked bread. Tom stopped in the yard to chat with his friend, an older Amish farmer. I chose to stay in the car.

While sitting there admiring the beauty of the farm, I felt eyes watching me. I turned and looked out the passenger window and saw a young boy maybe 3 or 4 sitting on the sidewalk. His legs were curled up beneath his slight body. The brown haired toddler, was dressed in a blue faded overcoat and donning a woolen knit cap, even though it was summer. I didn't notice his clothes at first, but was drawn to the magnificent smile upon this little boy's face. I waved and smiled back and his smile, if even possible grew even wider. We exchanged these flirtations for about 2 minutes, both laughing and smiling in turn. This child also had the most expressive brown eyes. He seemed to radiate light from his face. His smile radiated contentment. I figured he must be the happiest 3 year old I had ever seen. I was sure he had God in his soul.

The smiling and waving was getting a little awkward after 2 minutes, so I changed my glance to the massive workhorses outside the barn. They were workhorses, possessed a natural muscular beauty not present in smaller horses. There were also older children using several push mowers to cut the grass. They were running and cutting the grass, laughing as if it were a game, not even realizing they were working.My soul felt amazing soaking all this in! A beautiful Amish farm, filled with much happiness.

I decided to look back over to see what my new little friend was up to. What I saw reduced me to tears. My new little friend was scooting himself along towards the simple house using his arms. He was dragging his tiny little feet behind him. They were covered by two small white socks sticking out of tattered cuffs. The boy then turned himself around and started back down the sidewalk in my direction. Our eyes met again. I was embarrassed for staring, and not quite sure what to do now that I was caught. I quickly smiled and waved again which started our smiling /waving game all over again. He thought nothing of the fact I was staring at his disability, in fact it was like he didn't even know.


The smiling game went on for a few minutes more before Tom and the farmer approached the boy and started talking to him. At this time I rolled my window down and said hi to my new friend. He said hi back. I told the farmer what an adorable little boy he was. The man informed us that this was his grandson Noah. He went on to tell us Noah had been born with Spina Bifida. We went on to discuss Noah, unbeknownst to him as he only understandood German. The Grandfather went on to tell us that Noah has a heart of gold and an intelligent mind to match. He told us that God may not have given him perfect legs, but he made up for his disability with many other gifts. Noah, doesn't even realize that he is that different from the rest of the children continued the grandfather. He explained that the only time Noah gets discouraged, is when the other children are running."Noah has the strongest arms in the family!" he said. It was evident that there was hardly any emphasis put on Noah's disability. Spina Bifida was accepted and embraced.

I share this story to illustrate a fine example of the quote, "Bloom where you are planted by Mary Engelbreit. Noah blooms every day with the radiance that God has put in his heart. Noah and his family smile and rejoice in the face of a crippling disability, knowing this is what God's plan was for Noah. There are no tears, no worry, no heartache, only love, the pure love from God, as they bloom where they are planted!