AnnaliseMy three-year-old stood up in the bathtub when she was a toddler, slipped, and knocked her front teeth up into her gums. They eventually abscessed and had to be pulled. She has no memory of it, but I have to swallow hard whenever I talk about it.

She has the prettiest smile, though, and a gentle spirit to match. My second daughter has no idea that her missing teeth might be a handicap. She can eat apples, corn-on-the-cob, and anything at all.

It’s not that she doesn’t know about her missing teeth. Just this week, she reminded her baby sister, “Sweetie, you have to sit down in the bathtub or you’ll knock out your little toofies!”

Just today I was thinking of my own handicaps that prevent me from doing my job in the most excellent way: my back, my nausea, my [the list goes on]. And then I thought of my girl, who eats red apples but doesn’t care too much for the green ones, and I pressed on.

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ~II Cor. 12:9