Philippians 4:11
“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (KJV)
I would like to introduce you to my great-nephew; Ciarlo. He is the younger son my nephew and niece. From before birth his parents informed us all that their child needed our prayers. He has spina bifida! We prayed in earnest that the condition would be healed. While God chose not to heal Ciarlo completely, He did choose to greatly improve his condition with a very delicate surgery when he was a newborn!
Ciarlo is completely paralyzed from the waist down. Unless God gives them the miracle we pray for, that will be his condition for life. I just want you to take a moment and think about that. I had to. I thought about my own sons and how constant their care was when they were infants. I knew that time was short, they would grow, and soon I would not have to constantly carry them, they walk. I would not always change diapers, they are trained. They would go outside of their own will and run, dig, play ball, without my assistance. This is not the reality for my niece and nephew. While Cairlo has beyond his age level intelligence, at age 10, he has no motor skills for running and playing like his peers. Every movement we make with our legs, he needs the assistance of braces or wheel-chair, or other mobility device. Every day-all day.
What Ciarlo lacks from the waist down, he makes up for from the waist up. He is very much alive, intelligent and energetic! And smiling! Once while visiting them after my femur was broken I tried to commandeer some sympathy from him and thought we could commiserate about our ‘handicaps’. I was using a cane, he uses braces. I bent down to be on his plane as low as I could go, he sat on the floor. I said, “well, Ciarlo, now we both have a handicap’. With all the bravado he could muster, he stated, “what? I am normal!” I was immediately told in that sentence…’change your attitude Aunt Donna’, and I sure did!
Ciarlo amazes me every time I find out what he is doing now. He plays basketball from his wheelchair, he has tremendous upper body strength, excels at school, and likes to be front and center in situations when he can talk promote Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), or basketball. He has met and ‘shmoozed’ with some pretty famous people as he made the rounds promoting CHOP. His older brother, Dominic, is his hero. They were best buddies until Dominic lost the battle with a brain tumor. Ciarlo wears that red shock of hair in Dominic’s memory-it was his favorite color. Both boys, and their parents also, are very familiar with CHOP! Ciarlo has had the honor of being on billboards advertising CHOP, at fundraising events for ‘Make A Wish’ Foundation, and most recently, his artwork is featured on a candy bar shown above!
Today it’s raining outside and I was feeling a little down! I looked at this drawing of Ciarlo in his ‘T-Rex mode.’ I smiled. How could I do anything else? This young boy exhibits to us all that God is still along side of us, even in a wheel chair or in braces! Ciarlo is a motivator for those with handicaps, and those of us who are just ungrateful for what we DO have!
Of course, none of these achievements would be capable if he did not have the most amazing parents ever! Their lives revolve around Ciarlo, his Dr. visits, his activities, therapies, and everything to help him be the best he can be. They all exemplify the verse above; whatever condition I am in-be content, (my paraphrase). Keep your eye out for ‘Ciarlo William Liples.’ He is destined to be a man with a huge future ahead of him.
Lord, please forgive me when I am feeling a little down. I know you are with me, you walk with me as I walk unassisted, just as you walk with Ciarlo with his braces! Thank You!
Let me know if Ciarlo motivated you!
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