More on the Murphys

I keep thinking about Ian and Larissa Murphy, who wrote Eight Twenty Eight.  I reviewed their book in the last blog post.

Eight Twenty Eight, by the way, refers to August 28th, the day they were married. It ALSO refers to Romans 8:28:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to beconformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

I firmly believe that not all things are GOOD, but that God can work all things TOGETHER for good. Some things are just bad, but the Lord can use sorrow and grief and pain to help us grow.

Ok, back to Ian Murphy.  I was pondering that if Ian and Larissa had been married at the time of the accident, her decision to stay with him would have been obvious.  I believe wholeheartedly in those traditional wedding vows of "for better or for worse, in sickness and in health..."

The amazing thing was that they weren't even engaged at the time of the accident, though they were very much headed that way.

But more than that, I've been thinking about how Ian looks and acts (in some ways) like a handicapped CHILD.  Like I said, I saw some video footage of him and he really looks odd and speaks strangely.

BUT he is not a child, he is an adult.  And not only is he an adult, he is an adult who thinks clearly in many ways, and has amazing insights, and yet he isn't able to communicate very well because his body won't cooperate.

It reminds me a little of Stephen Hawking. Hawking is BRILLIANT, there is no doubt about it, but his body doesn't work well at all thanks to ALS (I think that is his disease) and he can't really speak.  But everyone knows he is a genius.  (To be clear, I think he is wrong about many things, but he definitely has an amazing brain.)

How much of this world, this culture, is based on appearance?  Sadly, a lot.  A lot.  Not only looks and speech, but mannerisms.  I am feeling convicted about how easy it is for ME to make a quick judgement about someone's intelligence and character because of the way the person looks and speaks and moves.  God forgive me.  There are those who are great at projecting an image of themselves that really isn't reality.  There are those who are disabled but have so much to offer -- and I'm not talking about intelligence at all, I'm talking about being a blessing just by existing and having a loving spirit.