November 20. Ron Sandison. Early on, Ron was diagnosed as autistic, but Ron is not disabled; he is differently abled. He never had it easy, but he had parents who loved him and knew enough to teach him to pray.
The day Ron was baptized, his pastor told him: “I feel this verse is for you: Joel 2:25, ‘I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.’ Your blessings will begin today.”
Ron went to college on a track scholarship and then to graduate school on an academic scholarship. On this date in 2016, Ron taught a Michigan audience how to build self-esteem in their children with autism.
In the right hands, a challenge can show off God’s greatness.
Ron was still young when experts heaped a bunch of imaginary limits on him. One expert advised Ron’s mom, “He will never read beyond a seventh-grade level, he’ll never attend college, he’ll never have meaningful relationships, and he won’t excel in sports.”
But these dire predictions didn’t hold Ron back. “My mom was determined to prove the experts wrong,” said Ron. The relentless belief and committed support of his parents lit a fire in Ron that caused him to excel. And Ron saw the world through the belief: “God empowers us with grace to overcome every obstacle.”
At the 2002 Commencement at Oral Roberts University, thousands of attendees streamed in. As Ron stepped into the Mabee Center to be honored as a 4.0 Masters of Divinity graduate, his keen memory played a mini-movie of the lifetime of investment in him his parents had made, the many years of his own hard work, and the impossibilities that God had made possible for him.
He remembered: “Mom gave up her career as an art teacher to become a full-time ‘Ron teacher.’” She educated herself about autism while she taught him how to see his uniqueness as a gift, rather than a limitation. She inspired a valuable perspective in his uncommon mind, which caused him to conquer challenge after challenge. He wasn’t taught that he couldn’t; he was taught that he could. And he believed it.
He remembered the prairie-dog toy he had bonded with during his seventh Christmas, and he remembered learning how to read and write like his friends. Then, in the fifth grade, he had entered an art contest with one of his prairie-dog posters—and he won.
He remembered the rush of pride he had felt during his first brush with notoriety as he smiled for his photo with the captain of the Detroit Pistons basketball team and future Hall of Fame inductee, Isaiah Thomas.
In the theater of his mind, Ron heard the crowd cheering him on as an eighth-grade track star at Heart Middle School while he set his third school record.
As he sat down in his seat for the commencement, Ron took in the moment.
After the opening ceremony, rows of graduates made their way toward the stage to receive their diplomas. Ron watched in anticipation until it was time for his section to go forward. He stood and joined his peers in this extraordinary moment.
Ron stepped onto the stage and approached the podium with a wide smile. His Master of Divinity diploma was placed into his hands, and he held another confirmation of his belief that obstacles can be overcome by the grace of God. And a life that could have been defined by limits became an example of God’s strength made perfect in weakness.
“Thanks to the help of my parents and the grace of God, I am living my dream,” he said.
“He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” (Isaiah 40:29–31 NASB).
A problem can become a turning point if it lands in the right hands. How’s your catch? In the right hands, a challenge can show off God’s greatness.
Sandison, Ron. “I Am Able.” Spectrum. Posted in 2015. https://www.spectruminclusion.com/videos/.
Sandison, Ron. “Value Everyone | Special Needs | Ron Sandison.” Posted February 11, 2018. https://vimeo.com/255271381.
Story read by: Joel Carpenter
Story written by: Shelli Mandeville, https://worthy.life/