NSMinistries
August 14th 2004, 01:04 PM
An Excerpt from the book The Biography of Splash (http://www.christianity.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID19179%7CCHID119948%7CCIID1845530,00.html)
the Tiniest Rain Drop, by Gary Piper, published by Publish America
I am so glad you’ve gotten this far and pray that the story of Splash may linger in your memory to constantly remind you that God loves you no matter how small you are or how small you’re made to feel.
I have tried to keep Splash’s biography in words for young persons to understand and relate with him. Some of the material on the pages that follow will be hard to understand for the younger age groups but because the world is full of Splash’s those of us who are in a position to help need to walk in their shoes.
As I stated in the Preface this story has been written from the circumstances of my life and the life of my grandson Ethan Fike. Although you have come to the end of the book our stories do not end here but go on. So if you don’t mind I’d like to get a little theological for a paragraph or two. It is not my intention to turn Splash into a theological treatise but a personal testimony of how my faith in God has given meaning to challenges life has presented me.
Theology, the rational and systematic study of religion and its influences, the nature of religious truth, and the study of God as important as it is in building a foundation must at some point move from the intellect into the mainstream of life. In the early day of my faith journey I thought it was enough to learn who God was so I ran the Theology gamut cramming my mind with God is this and God is that yet at the same time I was discovering that my day to day living was missing something. At one point I remember questioning myself I know all this stuff about God what more do I need? One day as I was reading the contents of a bottle of vitamins it suddenly occurred me that just reading which vitamins were the bottle did nothing for my body. Suddenly I realized I was doing the exact same thing with God the ingredients were in the bottle but I hadn’t opened it and put them to use.
The Biography of Splash transforms Theology into what I call Useology, a word I’ve created to express opening the bottle and putting theology into life.
With those thoughts in mind lets turn back the calendar a few thousand years. After leading the Israelites from years of slavery and 40 years through the wilderness Moses stands before the Israelites and says to them, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger, and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years." (Deuteronomy 8:2 - 8:4 NIV)
Returning to the now in many ways my life is like the Israelite journey to the land God promised to Abraham. When I became acquainted with the above scripture it jumped off the page and into my life and answered the Why God question that had nagged me for years and at the same time it reassured me that God had strengthened me and escorted me through all the obstacles I faced. As I write this epilogue God’s message through Moses continues to give me the encouragement and strength I need to face the challenges of tomorrow.
I recall when Ethan first told me how much it hurt when kids in school would remind him how short he was or when an adult would comment that his brother two years his younger was as tall as he was reliving an experience I had while in the third grade. For Christmas I received a 33 1/3 rpm LP record (remember those) I was very proud of one day I asked my teacher if I could bring it to school. She said yes so I brought it school she put it on the record player and allowed me to stand in front of the class. It never occurred to me that songs on it were Christmas songs and it was late spring. When the lyrics of Jingle Bells filled the room everyone broke out in laughter even the teacher. I was devastated and immediately began crying. The experience left me feeling small and insignificant. As I look back on the experience I suspect the laughter wasn’t at me personally but at the timing.
As Ethan was telling me his story all the painful emotions of that experience brought tears to my eyes and as I felt the tears running down my cheek the idea of Splash was born. I wrote Splash’s story late in 1999 and for nearly four years put it aside. About two years ago I a wrote short story titled The Effee Tree which is similar to Splash only it’s much shorter and easier for someone around 7 or 8 years old to understand. Like The Biography of Splash I dedicated it to my grandson Ethan.
Here is how it starts. "When you think you are small and weak, when you feel like a square peg in a round hole, when people make fun of you and you feel like giving up. The Creator has a few words for you. "For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are: that no flesh should boast before God. But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, "He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord." {1st Corinthians 1:26 - 1:28 WEB}
About two years ago it was discovered that Ethan was ADHD so on a routine doctor visit my son and daughter-in-law asked his doctor about his height. Consequently the doctor began charting Ethan’s growth. At the time it was discovered his growth curve was abnormal. So Ethan was referred to a specialist at Children's Hospital in Detroit, Michigan where he was diagnosed with Pituitary Dwarfism.
Pituitary dwarfism is a condition of growth retardation in which patients are very short, but have normal body proportions. It is caused by a dysfunction of the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is a pea-sized mass of tissue at the base of the brain. There are two types of pituitary dwarfism and in both types of pituitary dwarfism, height is stunted, but so is growth in the rest of the body, resulting in a perfectly proportioned little person. For this reason, pituitary dwarfism is sometimes called proportionate dwarfism.
Pituitary dwarfism is a rare disease. It occurs only in children. Low hormonal output from the pituitary in adults produces different disorders. There are many reasons why children do not attain heights within a normal range. These include normal hereditary factors (short parents), poor nutrition, inherited and congenital skeletal diseases, and diseases of the kidney and heart. Only about 15% of serious growth retardation is caused by failures in the endocrine system.
One of the first things we do when confronted with circumstances that seem unfair is question why. In my conversations with Ethan he never questioned if Pituitary dwarfism was rare why he had it instead he questioned why people thought of him as different. I suspect he thought himself some kind of a freak although he never admitted to me. I remember as a kid hearing the phrase sticks and stones may hurt my bones but names and words will never hurt me you ever hear it? I think the person who coined it must have lived in a world populated only by themselves. Because words and names do hurt and when they hurt the scars never go away.
One of my favorite Bible stories that answers the why question is found in the 8th chapter of the Gospel of John.
"And as he passed on, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?’
Jesus answered, ‘Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be manifested in him. I must work the works of him that has sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’
Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud of the spittle, and put the mud, as ointment, on his eyes. And he said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is interpreted, Sent. He went therefore and washed, and came seeing.’" {John 9:1 – 9:7 Darby Translation}
In Ethan’s case Jesus did not make mud and put in his eyes but he had a big part in making it possible for him to grow to his normal height by providing the medical community the know how to circumvent the failure of Ethan’s malfunctioning pituitary gland. The doctors at Children’s Hospital now have Ethan on daily injections of growth hormones that are helping him to grow. Following his last check up the doctors and nurses treating him are well pleased with the progress he’s made so far.
At ten years of age Ethan for me is a hero for several reasons the first is because each day even though he has a strong dislike for needles faithfully takes his shots and second I’ve never heard him lash out at anyone for belittling him. I suspect lying deep in his spirit there’s an inner strength giving him the power to overcome his pain and fear. And last but not least when staying overnight at our house and its time for his shot he always says to me, "It’s okay papa it doesn’t hurt."
One of my reasons for writing this book is for some point in the future when the wounds obtained when Ethan was made to feel abnormal surface he may understand that, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens: A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to seek, and a time to lose; A time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; A time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; A time of war, and a time of peace." {Ecclesiastes 3:1 – 3:8 Darby Translation}
It is my prayer that Ethan never forgets how he felt when those children were making fun of him because the day will come when because of those early experiences he will be in a position to have compassion on someone else and help them understand they are never alone that God love them just as they are and to remind them that he isn’t finished with them.
I’d like to leave the last words of The Effee Treeas a reminder not to those who think themselves the smallest or the weakest but to those who think themselves the biggest or the strongest. "In the hands of God the smallest of the small can become bigger than the biggest and the weakest of the weak can become stronger than the strongest."
"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning -- the sixth day." {Genesis 1:31 Darby Translation}
Gary Piper is on Staff at Natural Spirit Ministries and is a close friend. We have never met but this man shows the true meaning of friendship. Please let him know how much we like his Devo's in the Chaplin's Office, and take a look at his book sometime at a bookstore near you.
ISBN: 1-4137-2147-8, 48 pages, 6 x 9
the Tiniest Rain Drop, by Gary Piper, published by Publish America
I am so glad you’ve gotten this far and pray that the story of Splash may linger in your memory to constantly remind you that God loves you no matter how small you are or how small you’re made to feel.
I have tried to keep Splash’s biography in words for young persons to understand and relate with him. Some of the material on the pages that follow will be hard to understand for the younger age groups but because the world is full of Splash’s those of us who are in a position to help need to walk in their shoes.
As I stated in the Preface this story has been written from the circumstances of my life and the life of my grandson Ethan Fike. Although you have come to the end of the book our stories do not end here but go on. So if you don’t mind I’d like to get a little theological for a paragraph or two. It is not my intention to turn Splash into a theological treatise but a personal testimony of how my faith in God has given meaning to challenges life has presented me.
Theology, the rational and systematic study of religion and its influences, the nature of religious truth, and the study of God as important as it is in building a foundation must at some point move from the intellect into the mainstream of life. In the early day of my faith journey I thought it was enough to learn who God was so I ran the Theology gamut cramming my mind with God is this and God is that yet at the same time I was discovering that my day to day living was missing something. At one point I remember questioning myself I know all this stuff about God what more do I need? One day as I was reading the contents of a bottle of vitamins it suddenly occurred me that just reading which vitamins were the bottle did nothing for my body. Suddenly I realized I was doing the exact same thing with God the ingredients were in the bottle but I hadn’t opened it and put them to use.
The Biography of Splash transforms Theology into what I call Useology, a word I’ve created to express opening the bottle and putting theology into life.
With those thoughts in mind lets turn back the calendar a few thousand years. After leading the Israelites from years of slavery and 40 years through the wilderness Moses stands before the Israelites and says to them, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger, and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years." (Deuteronomy 8:2 - 8:4 NIV)
Returning to the now in many ways my life is like the Israelite journey to the land God promised to Abraham. When I became acquainted with the above scripture it jumped off the page and into my life and answered the Why God question that had nagged me for years and at the same time it reassured me that God had strengthened me and escorted me through all the obstacles I faced. As I write this epilogue God’s message through Moses continues to give me the encouragement and strength I need to face the challenges of tomorrow.
I recall when Ethan first told me how much it hurt when kids in school would remind him how short he was or when an adult would comment that his brother two years his younger was as tall as he was reliving an experience I had while in the third grade. For Christmas I received a 33 1/3 rpm LP record (remember those) I was very proud of one day I asked my teacher if I could bring it to school. She said yes so I brought it school she put it on the record player and allowed me to stand in front of the class. It never occurred to me that songs on it were Christmas songs and it was late spring. When the lyrics of Jingle Bells filled the room everyone broke out in laughter even the teacher. I was devastated and immediately began crying. The experience left me feeling small and insignificant. As I look back on the experience I suspect the laughter wasn’t at me personally but at the timing.
As Ethan was telling me his story all the painful emotions of that experience brought tears to my eyes and as I felt the tears running down my cheek the idea of Splash was born. I wrote Splash’s story late in 1999 and for nearly four years put it aside. About two years ago I a wrote short story titled The Effee Tree which is similar to Splash only it’s much shorter and easier for someone around 7 or 8 years old to understand. Like The Biography of Splash I dedicated it to my grandson Ethan.
Here is how it starts. "When you think you are small and weak, when you feel like a square peg in a round hole, when people make fun of you and you feel like giving up. The Creator has a few words for you. "For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are: that no flesh should boast before God. But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, "He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord." {1st Corinthians 1:26 - 1:28 WEB}
About two years ago it was discovered that Ethan was ADHD so on a routine doctor visit my son and daughter-in-law asked his doctor about his height. Consequently the doctor began charting Ethan’s growth. At the time it was discovered his growth curve was abnormal. So Ethan was referred to a specialist at Children's Hospital in Detroit, Michigan where he was diagnosed with Pituitary Dwarfism.
Pituitary dwarfism is a condition of growth retardation in which patients are very short, but have normal body proportions. It is caused by a dysfunction of the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is a pea-sized mass of tissue at the base of the brain. There are two types of pituitary dwarfism and in both types of pituitary dwarfism, height is stunted, but so is growth in the rest of the body, resulting in a perfectly proportioned little person. For this reason, pituitary dwarfism is sometimes called proportionate dwarfism.
Pituitary dwarfism is a rare disease. It occurs only in children. Low hormonal output from the pituitary in adults produces different disorders. There are many reasons why children do not attain heights within a normal range. These include normal hereditary factors (short parents), poor nutrition, inherited and congenital skeletal diseases, and diseases of the kidney and heart. Only about 15% of serious growth retardation is caused by failures in the endocrine system.
One of the first things we do when confronted with circumstances that seem unfair is question why. In my conversations with Ethan he never questioned if Pituitary dwarfism was rare why he had it instead he questioned why people thought of him as different. I suspect he thought himself some kind of a freak although he never admitted to me. I remember as a kid hearing the phrase sticks and stones may hurt my bones but names and words will never hurt me you ever hear it? I think the person who coined it must have lived in a world populated only by themselves. Because words and names do hurt and when they hurt the scars never go away.
One of my favorite Bible stories that answers the why question is found in the 8th chapter of the Gospel of John.
"And as he passed on, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?’
Jesus answered, ‘Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be manifested in him. I must work the works of him that has sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’
Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud of the spittle, and put the mud, as ointment, on his eyes. And he said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is interpreted, Sent. He went therefore and washed, and came seeing.’" {John 9:1 – 9:7 Darby Translation}
In Ethan’s case Jesus did not make mud and put in his eyes but he had a big part in making it possible for him to grow to his normal height by providing the medical community the know how to circumvent the failure of Ethan’s malfunctioning pituitary gland. The doctors at Children’s Hospital now have Ethan on daily injections of growth hormones that are helping him to grow. Following his last check up the doctors and nurses treating him are well pleased with the progress he’s made so far.
At ten years of age Ethan for me is a hero for several reasons the first is because each day even though he has a strong dislike for needles faithfully takes his shots and second I’ve never heard him lash out at anyone for belittling him. I suspect lying deep in his spirit there’s an inner strength giving him the power to overcome his pain and fear. And last but not least when staying overnight at our house and its time for his shot he always says to me, "It’s okay papa it doesn’t hurt."
One of my reasons for writing this book is for some point in the future when the wounds obtained when Ethan was made to feel abnormal surface he may understand that, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens: A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to seek, and a time to lose; A time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; A time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; A time of war, and a time of peace." {Ecclesiastes 3:1 – 3:8 Darby Translation}
It is my prayer that Ethan never forgets how he felt when those children were making fun of him because the day will come when because of those early experiences he will be in a position to have compassion on someone else and help them understand they are never alone that God love them just as they are and to remind them that he isn’t finished with them.
I’d like to leave the last words of The Effee Treeas a reminder not to those who think themselves the smallest or the weakest but to those who think themselves the biggest or the strongest. "In the hands of God the smallest of the small can become bigger than the biggest and the weakest of the weak can become stronger than the strongest."
"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning -- the sixth day." {Genesis 1:31 Darby Translation}
Gary Piper is on Staff at Natural Spirit Ministries and is a close friend. We have never met but this man shows the true meaning of friendship. Please let him know how much we like his Devo's in the Chaplin's Office, and take a look at his book sometime at a bookstore near you.
ISBN: 1-4137-2147-8, 48 pages, 6 x 9