Samantha’s parents had moved to the town of Newton, Massachusetts, shortly before she was born. It wasn’t long before they realized that their new little girl could not hear and was totally deaf. In order to “talk” to her, they decided to learn the language of the deaf. The language is called ASL and stands for American Sign Language. Instead of speaking with your tongue and lips, the deaf use their hands and fingers, along with facial expressions to speak to each other. Using your hands to talk is called “signing.”
Imagine being born into a silent world where you could not hear someone tell you, “I love you.” You would not be able to hear the sound of laughter or music, or the sounds of birds singing in the trees. Even though you could see, smell and touch things around you, everything would be completely quiet! Those of us who can hear find this hard to imagine, but this is what it was like for Samantha.
How happy her parents would have been if a doctor could have restored Samantha’s hearing! Our one and only Great Physician, the Lord Jesus, healed many deaf people when He walked on this earth. People were so amazed that they said, “He hath done all things well: He maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak” (Mark 7:3737And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. (Mark 7:37)).
Even though Samantha’s parents could hear, like you and I can hear, they wanted to be able to share things with their daughter. This is why many people that can hear learn ASL. It takes a lot of time, effort and memorizing, but it is worth it! In fact, 9 out of 10 children who are born deaf are born to parents that can hear. It is very important for the parents and children to learn ASL as soon as possible.
Samantha was a friendly, outgoing girl. When her parents would take her for a walk around town, the neighbors were drawn to her friendly smile and wanted to talk with her. But they were discouraged because they didn’t understand her language, even though Samantha tried hard to communicate with them. What could be done about it?
A few neighbors decided to learn ASL so they could “talk” to Samantha in her language. Others heard of it and decided they wanted to learn it too — until 40 neighbors were learning Samantha’s language! What an amazing act of compassion and kindness these neighbors showed for a little girl who could not hear! No one could question that they loved her and cared about her!
Samantha was so happy! Now she had many people to “talk” with. One of the first things she “signed” to them was the word “friend.” Because her neighbors wanted to learn her language, it made her look forward to her classes in sign language. She was very eager to learn!
There are many verses in God’s Word that speak of kindness and love. We are told to love one another and to treat each other with love and respect. Here is a good verse for all of us to remember. “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous” (1 Peter 3:88Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: (1 Peter 3:8)). Do others around us see our love for each other?
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Messages of God’s Love 8/30/2020