Sean is my 4th grade buddy at St. Joe's School here in Lincoln. Sean is the best creator of playdough tacos and playdough birthday cakes. Sean has what the world calls a disability, but he has an ability to make me laugh more than most things in this world. Sean impacts my life on the daily and doesn't let the fact that he has Down Sydrome stop him from changing the world. I've never met anyone more excited to come to class or to sprint through a school hallway. I've never met anyone who laughs as much as Sean. I've never met anyone more alive.
No joke, within 60 seconds the door swung open and in walked Sean and his mom. I had never met Sean before, but in an instant he had introduced himself to me and was kneeling next to me in the adoration chapel. I looked back at Jesus... "I think I have my answer."
Long story short, God can be pretty clear when He wants something beautiful and good for us, and the next week I found myself sitting "criss-cross applesauce" on the floor with a boy who would soon capture a piece of my heart. Sean told me that I "act like a kid even though I'm tall" and that he is "happy to be friends with a teacher who doesn't give him worksheets." There's a lot of beauty in the education department, but there are no words to describe the love I feel when Sean's face lights up when I walk in the door or when he says goodbye to me by saying, "I love you, but don't forget the playdough."
Sean has taught me a lot about going with the flow and taking one step at a time. I'm an organizer, a planner, and a thinker, but here, I'm letting Sean call the shots. We go step by step when playing games and making our playdough creations; this boy is the head chef and I am a lowly assistant, and man, is he a whiz at making food out of salty blue molding clay.
Sean has taught me to love and to appreciate school. After years and years of prayers from his family, this silly boy is finally able to attend school with his other siblings. This is the first year Sean is going to a Catholic school and he is so amazingly pumped about it -- even the uniforms are cool in Sean's eyes. We count down the days until music class, we count down the minutes until recess, and I get to count the hundreds of students who are happier and better people because they have met Sean. Myself included.
This experience has taught me that I don't have to understand the reason, outcome, or the lesson of an experience, I just have to ask and then respond. I don't know what masterpiece God is going to make out of the playdough of my life, but I know I want to try to let Him call the shots. I struggle with wanting to look at the either puzzle of my life, when God knows I can only handle one puzzle piece at a time. I don't have to run a marathon tomorrow, I just need to take the next best step towards becoming a saint.
Just say yes if God tells you to say yes.