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