Yesterday, I was privileged to spend my birthday speaking at a conference called No More Stares. It was a great experience for many reasons, but one of the coolest things that happened was that I spoke with a sign language interpreter at my side.

This was a new experience for me, and I admit I was a little distracted at first, with all that motion in my peripheral vision. But as my 45 minutes went on, I realized what she was contributing to my talk. Hand gestures.

I spoke of scooping Ethan up, and she scooped. I became more animated at points, and found that she was using her arms to speak for me in ways that I could if I were able. She was making complete the expression of my thoughts… the expression of who I am.

I’ve been thinking about it since then, and have been increasingly amazed by my experience yesterday. It was a perfect example of how humans were built to operate. We are creatures built for community, and of ourselves we are an incomplete expression of “His Kingdom come.”

Let’s be the words, the gestures, the music, the dance for others. They are incomplete without us.