Hi, this is Joni and there's nothing like a true story to get a point across.
What with yesterday’s celebration of the resurrection still ringing in our hearts, I'm thinking of a true and pretty heartwarming story about a boy named Jeremy. Maybe you’ve heard it before, but given Easter Sunday yesterday, it’s worth repeating. Jeremy was born with a severe disability and some mild intellectual impairments. Although Jeremy was 12 years old, he was still in the second grade at his Christian school. In fact, his teacher, Miss Miller, had repeatedly tried to put Jeremy in a special education class ‑‑ but the boy's parents were big on inclusion and they wanted him to stay with his classmates. This frustrated Miss Miller as she had 18 other youngsters to teach. But she prayed and asked God to give her patience.
Spring came rolling around and also the usual lessons Miss Miller taught about Easter. The teacher explained the story of Jesus to her class; that He died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave victorious. She even gave them an assignment. Each child was given a large plastic egg and told to take it home and bring it back the next day with something inside that showed new life. All the kids were super enthusiastic ‑‑ that is, except for Jeremy. Miss Miller wasn't even certain the boy understood the assignment.
The next morning, the children came to school, each talking about their surprises inside their plastic eggs. They placed the eggs in a wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk. After morning lessons, it was time to open the eggs. Well, in one egg a child had placed a flower, a perfect sign of new life. Miss Miller opened the next egg ‑‑ it had a plastic butterfly in it. All of these things were great signs of new life. Well, then she opened the next egg. It was empty. Because there was nothing in it, the teacher assumed it was Jeremy's ‑‑ he must have not understood the instructions. Because she did not want to embarrass the disabled boy, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another.
But Jeremy spoke up, "Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk about my egg?" But his teacher replied, "Jeremy, honey, your egg is empty." With the simple wisdom of a child, he said, "Yes, but the tomb of Jesus was empty, too." The recess bell rang and while the other children ran out to the schoolyard, Miss Miller went to her desk, quietly sat down, and dabbed her eyes. Here for the entire semester, she thought that it was a waste of time trying to teach that little boy, he was too much of a distraction, that the extra attention she had to give him was too much of a burden. But all the while, Jeremy possessed an insight into godly things that far superseded that of his classmates. Three months later, Jeremy passed away. And those who paid their respects at the funeral home were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket ‑‑ all of them empty.
Some story huh?! And is it really true? Well, we researched it and the sources seemed to be accurate. But it doesn’t really surprise me. Children – especially kids with disabilities – seem to sometimes have an inside track into the ways of God. And that’s something we celebrate at Joni and Friends. In fact, I’d love for you to visit my radio page today at joniandfriends.org to see the video we’ve posted this week on our Kid’s Corner. So take a moment today to sit with your child at the computer, go on-line, and show them this special video – because you know what? Kids with disabilities just like Jeremy have a lot of insights to share! Especially on this week after Easter.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
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