Our New Bodies

I was talking to a friend, and he wondered what our new bodies will be like since Christ in His resurrected, new body, still had scars. He referenced John 20:27 where it says:

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 

I wonder what this means for those with disabilities. They were no longer wounds. They didn't keep Him from doing things. But they were scars nonetheless. Maybe they remind us of what has been done, and our former life, but it does just make me wonder what our new bodies will be like. Especially for those with physical disabilities.

Nothing is to be rejected

1 Timothy 4:4-5 (ESV)

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

When Helping Hurts

I recently read this book called Feed, that critiqued some of the dangers of our values as a society, but also the effects of an over dependency on technology. This made me look at how we use technology with our students. Technology can often be the miracle that allows some students to do what they never could have done without it, but it can also become an unneeded crutch for something they could have overcome. So my conclusion is a reminder to us all of how intentional we need to be about deciding what assistive technology we use with our students. We need to make sure we have clear goals and objectives for our students, and be cautious about being too quick to just let technology always be the solution. If we do this, technology will always be a tool that helps us achieve our potential, and not a danger that leads us away from our true potentials.

No excuse not to dream!

                      

I don't think there should be any excuse that prevents us from dreaming! Do we not just believe this, but also encourage those we interact with to dream? And do we do whatever we can to help them pursue those dreams?

Meager Offerings Turned Into Grand Miracles

An excerpt from the blog entry I wrote this week with Karen.

Later we talked about the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. The boy made a huge gesture in that he gave all he could, but in regards to what was needed, it would be considered meager. And yet because he put it into God’s hands, it was used to accomplish amazing things! This gives me great hope, because I see how it can be true of my life. I have a very willing heart to give God all that I can, but often it still would be considered meager to this world. But the hope I find in this story, is that it’s not about what I can give, but what God can give, with what I have to offer. This is where my hope lies. That the amazing God I love and serve will use my life and all that I give to Him, to accomplish great things.

This was both a great reminder to me that God can use my meager offerings in big ways, but it was also beautiful being able to talk through this with her. It showed me once again how those with disabilities are just as beautiful and valuable as anyone else. How it never has been about what we can offer, but what we are willing to offer, and so disability or not, if we are giving our lives over to Him, He is using it to do extraordinary things! I think we forget or overlook that too much. We deceive ourselves with how much we are capable of, when really anything any of us offer will always be meager in regards what to what He can do. The only thing that will ever be extraordinary is the extent of our willingness, and you don’t have to be without a disability to be willing!

Dreams and the Dignity of Risk

               

The Dignity of Risk: A Poem

What if you never got to make a mistake?

What if your money was always kept in an envelope where you couldn’t get it?

What if you were never given a chance to do well at something?

What if you were always treated like a child?

What if your only chance to be with people different from you was with your own family?

What if the job you did was not useful?

What if you never got to make a decision?

What if the only risky thing you could do was to act out?

What if you couldn’t go outside because the last time you did it rained?

What if you took the wrong bus once and now you aren’t allowed to take another one?

What if you got into trouble and were sent away, and couldn’t come back because they always remember your “trouble”?

What if you worked and you got 46 cents an hour?

What if you had to wear your winter coat when it rained because it was all you had?

What if you had no privacy?

What if you could do part of the grocery shopping, but weren’t allowed to do any because you weren’t able to do all the shopping?

What if you spent three hours of every day just waiting?

What if you grew old and never knew adulthood?

What if you never got a chance?

-Author Unknown

Not sure what I think yet, but it sure takes my thoughts places

                  

Every person

Do we believe this? Do we really think that every person God puts in our lives are part of a perfect preparation for the future, or do we sometimes, at best, think that we can be used to help their lives but not the other way around. How can we change that? How can our lives show the genuine belief that everyone God puts in our life is for a purpose!

Do we seek to see His signature in their lives?

Same Dreams

In a book I am reading the author states, “This may be the most extraordinary mark of the Spirit of God within the heart of humanity: the freedom to live out dreams greater than ourselves.”

To me this quote means that because of Him, we are able to have dreams that, as another one of my favorite authors once wrote, “are destined to fail without God intervention.” Because of Him, we are able to dream big dreams. We are able to dream of His kingdom coming. We are able to dream of His love, hope, comfort, joy, strength, and so much more, reaching those in need. We are able to dream of lives lived where He is enough.

Everyone dreams. Everyone wants more. At least in my little experience, I have found this to be true. This isn’t always in a greedy way.  Many simply want more from their lives, they don’t want to waste it, they want to live fully for Him, and they want to pursue dreams bigger than themselves. I think this is a beautiful and noble thing. And I think it is for everyone, but sometimes, I wonder if we really believe that.

We dream the impossible, but find hope, even in our weakness and inability, because of Him. Why would this be any different for those with disabilities? Why wouldn’t God use them with their inabilities the same way He uses us in our inabilities? I often just wish that we would stop thinking that they are somehow incapable of so much. Sure, they often can’t do many things “we” can, but that doesn’t mean it’s always the case. I guess I just wish we would share the same hope and belief for them and their dreams, as we would for ourselves.

This week I met with one of my friends who suffered from some seizures and now has some mental disabilities. It happened to be her birthday this week and as we talked she shared of her dream to one day be married and raise a family of her own. She turned 36 and so she also shared her fear of how she is getting older, and she wonders if she ever will. I guess it is a little different since I am only 21, but seeing as I have never even dated, I have for sure shared the same fear! Except if I were to share this fear, I would right away be told that that isn’t the case, and that God has someone for me. I wonder though, if everyone would do the same for her, or would they at best say, maybe?

I don’t know if she ever will, and I know that many would even argue that she shouldn’t. But as she shared, I saw how this wasn’t just some selfish dream. This friend of mine is so full of love, and so eager to share that love and care for others. This is a dream bigger than herself, and one that she has prayed out to God. It’s a dream just like mine, and so my hope is that we would all agree with her freedom to truly dream in this way, and not see it as unattainable just because of her inabilities. I hope one day, that we will not look at others for who they are to the world, but who they are to and because of Christ.

Taught to accept?

Saw this and it just seemed to go with my last post! Do you think this is true of people with disabilities? Maybe its not a hate/love thing, but there is definitely a tension. Acceptance, equality in the way we view them verses others? But is this taught? Is it learned from watching others treat those with disabilities differently? Can it be unlearned? We have have an unlearn week at my school that tries to teach away some racial stereotypes. Can this be done in regards to disabilities?

I Have a Dream

I recently read an article that shared about the “we-they” barrier we still have in regards to those with disabilities. It made me wonder if that was a barrier we could overcome, and for some reason it made me think of the civil rights movement. I know that was a “we-they” barrier that this country has fought long and hard to overcome, and so maybe it came to mind to give me hope. Looking back, it seems obvious that black or white, we were all created equal. It seems silly that we could have ever thought that the color of one’s skin would be the reason that they were in some way less, and yet do we make these “silly” assumptions in regards to those with disabilities? Maybe it’s different. Maybe this is an unfair comparison, but I also think in many ways it’s not at all. I look at MLK’s speech where he states, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." And I think has it? Maybe for those of color, but do we really consider ALL men equal? Do our interactions and instant thoughts when we see those with disabilities suggest that? To me it seems, especially in regards to our immediate thoughts, that we are a long way off from ever achieving that. I mean I know I have my stereotypes that pop up even though I wish I could rid myself of them, and I am trying to be intentionally about losing them! So yes this question of, can we overcome this barrier, is daunting, but I am sure it looked pretty daunting at the start of the civil rights movement, and so I do take hope. And I do have a dream that one day a generation will be born into a world where they aren’t taught the stereotypes of those with disabilities, and are honestly able to look at those with disabilities as people just like them! The article that started me thinking about all of this, was entitled, What Shall We Call “Them”? The Issue of Labels and Categories, and it concluded with the decision that they should be categorized as “us,” that first and foremost, they are “people—human beings just like us.” I have a dream that one day there will be no more “we-they”s in the world; that there will just be “us.”

Are you who you want to be?

I am going to a Switchfoot concert tonight, and so naturally I’ve been listening to them in order to get more pumped up for it!! And so I was listening to one of their oldies This is your life, I couldn’t help but think about the question they were asking. “This is your life, are you who you want to be?” I know that for me, as I seek to become more of who God created me to be, I am able to more genuinely say, yes, to that question. But this is a very hard question. We are daily surrounded by so many people, media, and stories of people and things we want to be, that it is hard to say yes to that question. I spent some time thinking about this, and was soon led to one of my recent friends, that I began meeting with this year who has special needs and speaks of the sadness she has when she thinks of how the seizures she suffered as a child have affected her. I think she is content, but I wonder if many struggle with saying yes to that question as well.

As I seek to see beauty in everyone, seeing the value in everyone and viewing them as masterpieces perfectly crafted into who God wanted them to be. I ask myself, how can I, if needed, help those I work with to answer yes to the question “this is your life are you who you want to be?” I think this more fully gets at the idea of seeing unique and beautiful value in everyone. Yes, we all have dreams of who we want to be, but at the end of the day, are we content with who God created us to be? 

What are the masterpieces you see in others?

I really liked what he had to say in this, I thought it was really powerful and encouraging just for myself, but what if we took it a step further. What if we took what we heard from this and asked ourselves what masterpieces we saw in each other? What if we began viewing each life as a beautiful masterpiece? Can you imagine the effect that would have on the way we would interact with each other!

In case you wanted to go back and chew some of the things he was saying (I know I did!) here are the words!

A guy came up to me the other night, right, and he was like who is your favorite artist, and like most people do when they ask you that, he didn’t really want to listen to what my answer was. And he continued about a struggle to recognize who he said was the greatest of all time. He said, I mean is it Shakespeare, is it Frost, is it Picasso, Michelangelo, is it Rembrandt, Beethoven, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber. Okay, he didn’t really say that, that part was me, I’m a fan, what can I say. Bieber fever. But he said, whoever is lyrically the strongest, and said, whoever has lived the longest and he went on, and on, and on about who he thought was the greatest, not realizing even his infrastructure to answer that question was misled and outdated. So finally, I kindly smiled and said, okay, sir you asked me who is The Greatest of All Time, now you tried to share yours, so let me share mine.

Now, see there is no debate about who is the greatest, because all those other artists you mentioned, yeah, the greatest made them. And see this artist, he is a beast, man, the lion, the name above names, you don’t even realize it but you encounter his art every day. And he deserves all the acclaim, he deserves all of the fame, because all other artists fade away, but he remains. Oh, by the way, by the way, his name is God, Yahweh, creator, your maker. He is infinitely creative, sir, there is no one greater. And I can tell, it looks like you are starting to get mad at me, but don’t be jealous just because your favorite artist might bend words, and my favorite artist bends galaxies.

See in the palm of his hand he holds all the sand, the author of life, when he whispered let us make man. I mean what if you knew that you are God’s poetry. You were created, because someone else was creative. See, long ago he picked up his eternal paint brush, dipped in his glory, placed you in his story and said, they will live for me. And, and, I know it sounds outlandish, but we are not the product of random chances. In fact we are not even the vine; we are actually the branches, in the same way. No, we are not the artist, we are actually the canvas. Because in an instant, God started to make art, shaped/[chipped] uniquely and beautiful individual from the start and he touched the canvas of flesh and said, this one is better than the rest, I’ll give him so much of my image so even when they’re hot off the press they’ll look so much like me, you can still see the steam of my breath.

And so, he crafted and he made every arm and leg, ligaments, tendons, muscles, blood vessels, veins, arteries. He said, they are going to have a part of me. And it was right about then, the guy butted back in and said, the guy butted back in and said, I am filthy, God won’t use me, will he? And I said, that’s the greatest part about God, even if we’ve messed up, he can still use us. Even though other artists once they have broken equipment, they start to make excuses, but God instead doesn’t refuse us, and neither does he accuse us, he redeems us in Jesus, promises never to lose us.

So, stop saying that you’re dirt, stop saying you’re scum of the earth. You ought to be careful about, how you talk about someone else’s work. Because if you have trusted in Jesus man, you can stop saying you are filthy. All that is anyways is just pride, clothed, and false humility. I mean if only we believe that we truthfully are created in his likeness, then we’d stop saying we are messed up, guilty, wretched, filthy, but instead knowing if we trusted Jesus we are righteous.

I mean, don’t you know you are drawn to repentance because of his kindness, so how dare you call yourself worthless when he says you are priceless. But see the best part about God, is that since God is ultimately for God, he’ll get glory out of you, whether you like it or not, because even temple ruins point to you an architect even if the temple is shot. And, all I am saying is that he is behind it all, so why do we insist on giving him no glory at all.

I mean he is the one that gave Van Gogh the imagination that changed the face of painting. Tell me who else allowed Mozart to start composing at age five, without formal training. He is the one that gave Beethoven the hands that played beauty on the keys, for Pete’s sake, he made Stevie Wonder, one of the best musicians of our time and he couldn’t even see.

And that’s why in the same way that our lives are borrowed time, this poem is borrowed lines, because the most ridiculous statement I could ever say is that this poem is mine, because we are not self sustaining. No, we are not self creating. Technically, nothing we do is original, we are just imitating and that’s not a dis, all I am trying to say is this, even our own creativity is nothing more than an outflow of his. But, hey, I’ve said enough; I’ll end with this.

You know that quote about giving credit, where credit is due. Well, if that’s true, I think it’s time we give God his rightful credit too, because he is the type of artist in the business in making all things new and here is the truth, he is not through with making a masterpiece of you.

What if this was more the norm?

I saw this and I just loved it so much!! I mean talk about accepting people completely for who they are, and not letting that keep you from loving and being with them! Can you imagine a world where this was not some inspiring clip, but rather the norm!

My Prayer

As I reflect on my desire to have eyes to see as He does the lyrics to Brandon Heath's Give me Your Eyes song comes to mind. 

Here are the lyrics:

Give Me Your Eyes (or click to watch music video)

Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
Why have I never cared?
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide whats underneath
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work, he's buying time
Why have I never cared?
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
A couple of million eyes just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
So give me a second chance
To see the way You see the people all alone
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
That I keep missing
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Touched down on the cold black tar
All those people going somewhere
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
Step out on a busy street
Theres a man just to her right
All those people going somewhere
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
I've been there a million times
Well, I want a second glance
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted

As I seek a profession working with those with Special needs, and see my need for eyes to see in new light, I can't help but think how it's not just my profession that requires eyes like this. Everyone has needs, and someone needs to be able to see that. I mean could you imagine a world where people actually cared about others. Where people saw hurt and pain and sought to comfort rather than continuing to walk on. I think the story of  the good Samaritan touches on this, but really, think about a world where even just the "religious" stopped and helped those hurting on the side of the road! I hope that working with children with special needs will help me develop this eye sight. I think they have this amazing and beautiful ability to affect the community and those around them because their need is so obvious. Everyone has needs. Only unlike them, we can hide our need for help better. So this is my prayer. That God would not only give me eyes to see but that as He cultivates the ability to see, that I wouldn't limit my new vision to the work place, but that I would let God use my eyes to help bring hope and love to the hurt that most of the world fails to see, or just ignores.

A question I ask to you?

What will become of those with disabilities in Heaven?

This question was posed to me early on in the semester, and it has been messing with my mind ever since. If a body is perfect in heaven, then either they will no longer have their disability in heaven, or we need a new term since this "disability" is clearly part of the beautiful masterpiece God created them to be!

I wish I had some philosophy friends, maybe they could give me some enlightenment, since this only leads me to ask all sorts of questions. Like what is the root or reason for people with disabilities? Is it part of the aftermath of the fallen world? Or would their still be people with disabilities even if Adam and Eve had never eaten the forbidden fruit? Oh how I wish I knew what God sees when He looks at them? And how can I begin to have eyes to see like Him?!

The Beginning

I find myself at a very curious and hopeful place. I am hopeful because I know I am about to learn so much and I am excited to see the work God will do in and through me as I embark on this journey to learn more about others, and see how I can be used in their lives. But I am also very curious. I recognize that I know so very little when it comes to understanding others. So I start this journey at a very humble place as I seek to gain understanding. I am so filled with stereotypes and judgments that I want to rid myself of, and replace with open and genuine care. I want to be honest, I don’t want to idealize, but I also don’t want to assume or offend, and so I am excited to see all that I will learn, and the effect that will have on the way I see. I hope I can be used, and while I hope I can help and at times “fix,” I don’t want to be blind to beauty. I don’t want to try and change something that shouldn’t be changed. So this is where I am at. A slightly smudged page that needs to have some eraser work and then filled with beauty, like the beginning of great literature or a masterpiece!