{"id":1143,"date":"2011-07-16T20:21:05","date_gmt":"2011-07-17T00:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1143"},"modified":"2011-07-16T20:34:19","modified_gmt":"2011-07-17T00:34:19","slug":"and-he-danced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/07\/and-he-danced.html","title":{"rendered":"…and he danced"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Wednesday, November 10, did not seem like an eventful day for Joey Melton.\u00a0 He got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, took his lunch and went to work.\u00a0 None of us would have suspected that this would be his last day on earth. How could we know that by 2pm he would slip into eternity?\u00a0 He was not sick.\u00a0 The behaviors which had haunted him most of his life had been tamed and subdued.\u00a0 He had become known as the \u201cgentle giant.\u201d\u00a0 He would touch, not strike.\u00a0 Though still able to crush, Joey caressed the things he found fascinating and beautiful.\u00a0 But Joey was not to remain here.\u00a0 The Lord had a better plan for him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 During the praise and worship time at The Special Gathering, Joey danced through the praise.\u00a0 At first, he would sway during the music at his seat.\u00a0 When he started knocking into people, some thought that we should make him stop.\u00a0 But this was his expression of joy and delight in the presence of His Lord.\u00a0 That joy should not be suppressed.\u00a0 Gently Gladys LeGrow or Dan Guiles, his Bible teacher, would lead him into the back of the room or into the aisles.\u00a0 He only danced during the fast music, the praise music.\u00a0 After the praise time, he would slowly move back into his seat as we sang the slower worship music.\u00a0 Joey knew the difference between praise and worship and always responded appropriately.<\/p>\n

Joey had several special giftings.\u00a0 He could down a 2-liter bottle of soft drink in less than 30 seconds.\u00a0 He could eat a meal in record time and his smile would brighten the saddest heart.\u00a0 Once at work, he got into a highly concentrated red drink.\u00a0 The results were astronomical.\u00a0 As you know with our bodies, what goes in must come out; and within a short time Joey was pouring red from both ends.\u00a0 The staff was puzzled and confused until they found the half empty bottle of red drink with the lid off.\u00a0 It was clear that Joey had tried to finish off the entire bottle.\u00a0 Thankfully, he did not succeed.<\/p>\n

Joey loved work, church, Amy and Michelle. His caregiver, Tom said that at one Sunday afternoon dance with the Rec Department, they missed him.\u00a0 He was found on the dance floor smoosing with some tiny little female girl.\u00a0 It was apparent that Joey had a secret life of romance that he did not share with his group home family.<\/p>\n

Joey was selective about whom he gave his affection.\u00a0 While it was apparent that he loved, Dan, his Bible study teacher, he withheld his affection from me for several years.\u00a0 But there came a wonderful day when Joey sought me out and extended his hand to me for a handshake.\u00a0 I knew that I had won a great victory that day.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Through his praise and worship, his delight in attending church, Joey shared with us his devotion to Jesus.\u00a0 While he often had to be directed to the next class, Joey sat quietly, absorbing the Word of God as his teacher, Dan, or I taught.\u00a0 Each of us has something that we can share which shows our devotion and love for the Lord.\u00a0 Joey danced and sat quietly.\u00a0 Can any of us really do much more?<\/p>\n

Psalm 8 says,\u00a0\u201cYou have taught children and babies to sing praises to you.\u00a0 I look at your heavens, which you made with your fingers; I see the moon and stars, which you created.\u00a0 But why are people important to you?\u00a0 Why do you take care of human beings?\u00a0 You made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Few people here on earth understood the glory or honor that God graced on Joey. \u00a0Yet in heaven, right now, the angels are singing because he has come home and Joey is dancing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, November 10, did not seem like an eventful day for Joey Melton.\u00a0 He got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, took his lunch and went to work.\u00a0 None of us would have suspected that this would be his last day on earth. How could we know that by 2pm he would slip into eternity?\u00a0 He…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,20,3,182,40,49,10,16,8,85,12,4,41],"tags":[690,21,688,696,216,7,699,715,701,694,689,57,692,6],"class_list":["post-1143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism-spectrum","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-disability","category-faith","category-inspiration","category-inspirational","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-prayer-2","category-religion","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-dancing","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-prayer","tag-religion","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\n...and he danced - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/07\/and-he-danced.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"...and he danced - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wednesday, November 10, did not seem like an eventful day for Joey Melton.\u00a0 He got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, took his lunch and went to work.\u00a0 None of us would have suspected that this would be his last day on earth. 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