We Go Together
Hi, I’m Joni here with a modern day example of the body of Christ. And my friend and co-worker Shauna Amick – hi, Shauna!
SHAUNA: Hey there, Joni.
JONI: And you’re in studio with me today, because you’re going to tell us a great story about your daughter Sarah, right?
SHAUNA: I sure am. You know I love telling stories about how Sarah – or how any of our friends with disabilities – when they’re invited out of the margins and off the sidelines.
JONI: And into the mainstream of life, right?
SHAUNA: That’s right.
JONI: And you know, it’s heart breaking to listen to parents talk about how their kids are left out of school or community events, or how adults with disabilities are overlooked at work or they’re not involved in church. But that’s not what we’re talking about today, is it? Today you’ve got a praise report!
SHAUNA: Oh, I’m so happy I do, yes. And in order to give this little story some context, I need to point out, Sarah’s teachers were always on the lookout for creative ways to help her practice appropriate social skills with her non-disabled peers.
JONI: Sounds so educational.
SHAUNA: And, you know, she loves to sing. So what we came up with was the idea of having her join the school choir.
JONI: Okay.
SHAUNA: And as excited as I was that Sarah was going to have that opportunity, I’ll tell you, I was anxious. Because, well, by the world’s standards, Sarah is non-verbal, and the limited language she does have is really difficult for most people to understand, so…
JONI: But she’s in the school choir?
SHAUNA: Yeah, how in the world was that going to work? But, you know, she loves music and loves to sing, and the goal was just to give her opportunities to interact with her friends, so we went for it.
JONI: How did it go?
SHAUNA: Oh, Sarah loved it; she made so many friends who not only enjoyed her company during choir practice, but they went out of their way to say hi to her outside on the school campus.
JONI: Oh, I love that. Sounds like the educational plan was accomplished!
SHAUNA: Well, it was. But you know what, that’s not actually my praise report today. (JONI: Okay.) When it came time for the choir to do their big concert in front of the whole school and all the parents, you know, I was wondering if Sarah’s teachers were going to come up with some creative reason as to why she couldn’t participate. But instead, they bent over backwards to accommodate her, and Sarah, she stood in the front row alongside all of her classmates in that special concert. At first, the other parents actually looked at me, and they looked a little nervous. Like, oh, boy, how’s this going to go over?
JONI: Is she going to blow it?
SHAUNA: Exactly. But, Joni, what do you think they sang?
JONI: I think I’m going to hear it right now.
SHAUNA: Oh, yeah, you sure are! Do you remember that old song “We Go Together” from the movie Grease?
JONI: Barely, but go ahead.
SHAUNA: Okay, let me remind you. (singing) “We go together like rama lama lama, ka dinga da dinga dong.” Well not only did Sarah sing all the words right on cue, but she was able to do all the hand movements from the movie too! And when those beautiful middle schoolers sang “We Go Together,” I couldn’t help but hear 1 Corinthians 12 ringing through my spirit – God has placed all the parts of the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. You know, I heard that Scripture, and I can’t tell you what other parents heard, but when I looked into the audience, there were just amazing tears of joy as they watched Sarah too.
JONI: Ah, they celebrated with you.
SHAUNA: They sure did.
JONI: God bless ‘em. You know, it’s such a reminder to us all – listening friend, we go together in the body of Christ. You know why? Because God said so! He just doesn’t tell us to act like one in Christ. We are to be one in Christ. So, today, Shauna and I are asking you to invite someone with a disability to join you at church, or maybe take them out to lunch, or even to your choir practice because (singing) “we’re for each other like a womp bop a-looma, a-womp bam boom.” We go together, Shauna. Thanks for that story!
