Just Smile

So did I pique your interest at the end of yesterday’s blog?

No, I didn’t win the lottery…God knows better than that. 🙂

But…

Today is our middle child (Jordan’s) 30th birthday!

I decided to take a break from working on our life purpose and vision and focus today’s blog on Jordan.

On February 3rd, 1986 the Good Lord saw fit to bless us with a child with special needs.  We named him Jordan, after the professional basketball player Michael Jordan, but a couple of years into his life and we found he was our River Jordan.

Jordan’s birth created a dynamic in our (Lori and my) lives that we had never faced before.

Lori dropped everything and dove in head first as Jordan’s primary caretaker and mode of survival.  She simply followed her motherly instincts.

I, on the other hand, went away on what our family refers to as my “long weekend.”  She handled reality and faced it.  I couldn’t handle reality, so I ran from it and became a full blown drug addict.

I ended up getting my crap together (by the grace of God and a few miracles) 18 months after Jordan was born…thus the reason I consider him our family’s River Jordan.

Over the past 30 years Jordan has provided so much for our family.  Our other two children are well rounded and grounded as a result of having a brother like Jordan.  Other family members have also benefited by having Jordan in their lives. Lori and I have literally been bound together by Jordan.

I refer to Jordan as the Meyer Family’s ultimate perspective keeper.  We never get too high or too low because we never know what Jordan is going to throw at us (sometimes literally).

This past weekend Lori and I flew with Jordan to Washington D.C. in order to meet up with and celebrate his 30th birthday with his sister, brother and sister-in-law.

On the flight out (which is always an adventure with Jordan), we were able to get bulkhead seats and the three of us sat together.  Bulkhead means we were at the very front of the plane.

It took Jordan all of about 20 minutes into the flight to capture the hearts of the two Southwest Airlines flight attendants at the front of the plane.

For those of you who know Jordan he has pretty blue eyes and a smile that is infectious.  Jordan can’t talk but he’s learned how to bat his pretty blue eyes and smile…especially at women.  He simply has a “way” about himself.

Basically Jordan exudes love to anyone he comes in contact with.  He’s never known a stranger.  He’s never held a grudge.  For the most part he is a happy soul.

As the plane was descending into Baltimore/Washington International Airport one of the flight attendants got on the P.A. system and announced to everyone that Jordan was about to celebrate his 30th birthday and she asked all of the passengers to push their flight attendant call lights on so that all of the white lights above every seat in the plane were illuminated.  She did this in order to create a “birthday cake” type effect.

She then asked everyone to join in as she began singing Happy Birthday to Jordan.

Jordan was on fire as he somehow could sense the entire plane was singing happy birthday to him.  His smile was bigger than big and he was waving his hands in the air.

He was the center of attention without saying a word.

He simply opened his eyes and smiled.

There is a message within this message.

Oh, and by the way, we won the lottery on February 3, 1986.

“The smile on my face doesn’t mean my life is perfect.  It means I appreciate what I have and what God has blessed me with.”  ~Unknown

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com

Proverbs 17:22, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”  (ESV)