The other day, I witnessed one of the more exciting things that I've seen in my entire life. At Tesoros, we had a group of speech pathologists from the University of Northern Iowa come to help out. They came to do speech and hearing testing. Tuesday afternoon, I was walking upstairs for some reason, and a hearing doctor with the group asked me to give her a hand with something. She was trying to put together a hearing aid for an 8 year old boy named Brayan, and it wasn't working for her, so she wanted to see if someone else could. So I helped put together a hearing aid. At first, it was only me, the doctor, and Brayan in the room. The doctor put the first hearing aid in Brayan's ear. Brayan has been deaf for most of his life. Watching him hear for the first time was incredible. I don't think I've seen so much joy and happiness. He started clicking his tongue, clapping his hands, grunting, all while he was smiling. I was whistling and making weird noises at him, and he kept trying to imitate the noises. His speech cleared up noticeably right away, and you see how happy he was. Then we put the other hearing aid in, and it was the same thing all over again. New noises to explore. I remember getting new toys when I was younger and feeling good about that. But I can't imagine how Brayan felt; this was a gift that changed his life. By this time, quite a few other people came in to the room, and we were all sharing in Brayan's happiness. I was quite excited for him. A gift of this magnitude and meaning is not something someone receives every day.
"And they brought him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and the begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha", that is, "Be opened." And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly... He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
Mark 7:32-36
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