{"id":2657,"date":"2012-06-01T09:08:24","date_gmt":"2012-06-01T13:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=2657"},"modified":"2012-06-01T09:08:24","modified_gmt":"2012-06-01T13:08:24","slug":"its-not-all-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/06\/its-not-all-bad.html","title":{"rendered":"It’s not all bad"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>During the 20 years that I’ve lived and worked within the mentally challenged community, one thing I’ve seen again and again. \u00a0These brave parents learn to find goodness and joy in the circumstances in which they are forced to live. \u00a0No one plans to have an intellectually disabled child. \u00a0Each mom and dad groans with gut-wrenching grief when they see other children’s reaction to their precious treasure. \u00a0They wince when adults stare, shake their heads and turn away from their child.<\/p>\n

Yet, again and again, I’ve seen that these parents and their children learn to benefit from the grief, abuse, insults and sorrow. \u00a0Laughter and joy emerge as their family’s life permeates all their relationships. \u00a0Parents bond over bowling and special needs activities, in hospitals, and in the doctors’ offices.<\/p>\n

In many ways, The lessons I’ve learned from them have made it easier to \u00a0adjust after my husband’s death. \u00a0I loved my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed being married. \u00a0Nevertheless, I love the silence in the house, when I want to be quiet. \u00a0I enjoy watching the TV shows that I want to watch, without any surly comments. \u00a0I can go out to eat at any restaurant that pleases me. \u00a0Or I can stay at home and cook all the vegetable I desire.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>My husband was allergic to the vegetables in the cabbage family. \u00a0Additionally, most other vegetables were simply put into the “NOT TO BE EATEN” Catagory, as well. \u00a0I was never allowed to cook them during the years we were married. \u00a0 Naturally, vegetables–all vegetables–are my favorites.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, a young pastor came to our meeting loaded with gifts from his vegatable garden. \u00a0There were bags of egg plant, okra and jalapeno peppers. \u00a0All things that I would never be allowed to cook, if my husband were alive. \u00a0Without hesitation, I grabbed all three. \u00a0I was planning my menu as soon as I heard what he was offering.<\/p>\n

As I stuffed my portion of the garden goods, into my bags, I smiled inwardly. \u00a0It’s not all bad being a widow<\/em>, I said to myself as I picked up an extra handful of okra. \u00a0Rice, peas and okra are on the menu. \u00a0For sure, it’s not all bad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the 20 years that I’ve lived and worked within the mentally challenged community, one thing I’ve seen again and again. \u00a0These brave parents learn to find goodness and joy in the circumstances in which they are forced to live. \u00a0No one plans to have an intellectually disabled child. \u00a0Each mom and dad groans with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,40,186,10,16,8],"tags":[690,21,688,7,699,715,701,694,391,6,700,695],"class_list":["post-2657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism-spectrum","category-christianity","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspirational","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-orka-and-egg-plant","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-spirituality","tag-teaching"],"yoast_head":"\nIt's not all bad - 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\/2012\/06\/its-not-all-bad.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It's not all bad - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During the 20 years that I’ve lived and worked within the mentally challenged community, one thing I’ve seen again and again. \u00a0These brave parents learn to find goodness and joy in the circumstances in which they are forced to live. \u00a0No one plans to have an intellectually disabled child. \u00a0Each mom and dad groans with…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/06\/its-not-all-bad.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-01T13:08:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2012\/06\/family.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"It's not all bad - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/06\/its-not-all-bad.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"It's not all bad - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"During the 20 years that I’ve lived and worked within the mentally challenged community, one thing I’ve seen again and again. \u00a0These brave parents learn to find goodness and joy in the circumstances in which they are forced to live. \u00a0No one plans to have an intellectually disabled child. \u00a0Each mom and dad groans with…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/06\/its-not-all-bad.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2012-06-01T13:08:24+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2012\/06\/family.jpg"}],"author":"Linda G. 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