Handicap Never! I Will Love You Forever
by
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: CHAPTER 34; LEAVING
Pastor Webb wrote, We are about two hours away from Los Angeles. I stood up and stretched a little.
I asked Pastor Webb in a note if he would provide me with some insight into something I learned about faith at my Amish home church.
I wrote in Romans 10:17, it says; faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Then in Hebrews 11:6 it says; Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.” According to that, I cannot hear so I cannot have faith: and I cannot please Him without faith.
How can I understand this when I am a deaf mute?
Pastor Webb smiled at me. He wrote on my pad. “Collie, you have great faith. I have only been with you for three or four hours and can already see the faith inside of you. You may not hear God’s word, but you read it and store it inside.
You said a man in your family signs to you what the bishop preaches in your home church. This man hears the word and in turn gives it to you. God has used this man to be your ears. You please God by your prayers and love for others, but mostly for Him.
You must not be concerned that you are not pleasing to God. Some day when you go to heaven, you will hear every word spoken, every song, because you believe!
I sat beside Pastor Webb absorbing what he wrote to me. I thanked him again and wrote I was pleased we were seated beside one another.
Pastor Webb also wrote that God had a plan; and in that plan was our meeting each other, sitting together, and sharing our love for the Lord and Savior.
He also thanked me for sharing my Amish beliefs with him.
I returned to my letters. Both Joseph’s and Jacob read about the same. They will miss me and hope I find happiness in California with Christine. I decided to keep the letters from Amos and Rachel until I got settled and could read them on a day when I feel the need for my family’s presence.
Pastor Webb wrote that the airplane pilot will come on the speaker and tell us when to fasten our seat belts.
“Above you Collie, toward the front of the plane, you will see a monitor and it will say, fasten seat belts.”
I saw it light up and he wrote that we will soon descend and land at LAX.”
After landing, I will help you to find your friend. I hope to see you again someday!
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About the Book
Collie, born deaf mute, through her handicap becomes a blessing and useful tool to help others. In her struggle to fit in, she finds sorrow, happiness, and unconditional love. Collie becomes a sign-language teacher and meets Isaiah in one of her classes. He is from the Old Order Amish culture, living in Shipshewana, Indiana. He is losing his hearing and wants to teach his family to sign for better communication.
The Amish people have a simple piety. “A desire to be faithful to God.” Collie and Isaiah’s story continues on with many directional changes.
My prayer as you read this story is that God will use it to help you understand that any form of handicap and being different, whether in dress, culture, or physical handicap, is a struggle for many people.
For He Himself has said.
“I will never leave you or forsake you.”
KJV
“The book shows an intimacy of Amish life that is rare, a story that made me laugh out loud, shed a tear, and turn page after page. Easy to love.”
—Mark Schuyler, production reviews, Paramount Pictures
About the Author
Sharon Kurtz Hammel, wife, mother, and grandmother is a hospice volunteer, a registered clown with Clowns of America International. Sharon has taught sign language in her church/school’s elective classes, signing songs for chapel. She works in a local coffee shop and bookstore.