Blessed Are the Different: Biblical Answers for Human Questions

By Seana Reavis

When you discover that your child is going to be different, it is common to have some questions. Those questions, while natural, often leave a person longing for answers and wondering if there are any to be found in the Bible. This book hopes to offer answers that are birthed from experience, but ultimately are rooted in the truths of Gods Word. The Bible has a lot to say about Gods creation, especially people. While this book is written from the perspective of a parent, it can be very beneficial to any relative or friend of someone who is blessed to be different. In this book you will find several of the most common questions or concerns regarding special needs and corresponding Bible verses with practical applications. With its concise question and answer format, it can be useful as a Bible study or reference guide to Scripture verses relating to special needs. In this book you will find that the Bible overflows with words of Gods sovereign love and trustworthy faithfulness!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781490898599

Seana Reavis

Seana Reavis lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband Josh. They have one son named Shepherd and are in the process of adopting two children from the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a pastor’s wife and mother of a child with special needs she has a passion to communicate the hope of Christ to other families who may struggle with the realities of raising a special needs child.

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Copyright © 2016 Seana Reavis.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Cover art by Tammy Lashey and Nichole Womack

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-9858-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-9859-9 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/03/2016

CONTENTS

Our story

What I mean by different

How did this happen?

Where was god?

Why me? Why my child?

Did I cause this or am I being punished for something?

Even if I don’t blame myself, will others blame me?

Is this a trial?

Even though i believe

the bible, why am i still struggling?

Will my child be teased? How will I give protection from hurt feelings?

Will my child be upset about being different?

How big/small a deal should I make of this as my child grows?

Since god made my child different, is he or she more special?

Since my child is different, is an extraordinary life probable?

How do I handle the attention?

How do I handle pity?

Is the Bible a crutch to make weak people feel better about their lives?

Once I move on, will discouraging moments still occasionally come in the future?

Is intervention valuable?

How can adopted children and their parents deal with feeling different?

Does the Bible say, Blessed are the Different?

Acknowledgments

About the Author

If you truly believe that God is sovereign, then there is no such thing as deformity.

Tom Buck, Senior Pastor,

First Baptist Church of Lindale, TX.

I don’t have a disability. I have a platform to share my story, which is that I am blessed.

David Ring, Evangelist

OUR STORY

Shepherd Morris Reavis calmly came into the world at 5:10pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2011. I say calmly because by his quiet demeanor at birth, you would never suspect that he was in any particular rush to arrive. Yet despite our expected weekly schedule, Shepherd willfully joined me and my husband, Josh, in person a month before his due date. While his cool persistence was cute at the time, it may be something that will come in handy, so to speak, throughout his life. That Tuesday afternoon, our baby slept smugly content in our arms, innocently unaware that he had just been born not only rather early, but also rather different.

This is a Bible study book especially for parents or caregivers of children with special needs. Family and friends may find it helpful as well, though it is written from one parent to another. I am not a writer. I am a wife and a mom who learned during my very first pregnancy that the child I carried was different, and I honestly struggled with accepting and appreciating that. I wish I could say that I felt honored from the moment we discovered the uniqueness of our child, but that would not be true. My husband’s reaction was joy. My reaction was pure shock that left my heart heavy with questions and worry, all hidden behind an outward smile. I had been a Christian since age fourteen but upon revelation that God made my