The world closes when the word disability creeps into one’s life because other people in the outside world do not see the abilities before the disabilities. I am a very capable person, but since I have lost my vision I am no longer viewed in this way.

Jesus names his present and future vulnerability to pain in this verse and empowers his friends to claim their own limitations, and to use them as the basis for trust. I know how Jesus feels, in terms of having a broken body. I have spastic cerebral palsy: this neurological condition means that my muscles are always tense, or spastic, and that I experience palsy, or continuous tremors in all my limbs.

Putting people into categories goes right back to the Bible, as in the New Testament the early church had conflict between the Jews and the Gentiles and the church could not agree on how to achieve unity. It is clear from the Old Testament that God intended all along that people love Him and live at peace with God and others.

Baptism is an expression of a person’s love for and commitment to Christ: A recognition that we are broken and sinful and are in need of a Saviour. I believe this and wanted to be baptized. There was one crucial problem; due to medical reasons I can no longer go under water!

I believe that my kids are understood by their Creator, one who intercedes for all of us when words fail or aren’t possible. I believe that as complicated as they may seem, both Rachel and Janneke have purpose, a purpose that may simply be to motivate the rest of us to care and be more caring.

Too often we fail to listen by forcing others into shallow cultural molds of what is socially acceptable. Instead, we must follow Christ’s example in welcoming those who are on the margins of society into the centre of community life.