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A magazine filled with inspiring articles written by people with disabilities for people with disabilities.
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VOLUME 28 / ISSUE 1
MagazineSpring 2013
Need a Boost?Find out more on page 21
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6
Leadership
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Lift on the Horizon
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A Pastoral Lift
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A Parent’s Thought
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Mom’s Moments
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Caregiver Conversations
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Dad’s Den
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Fitness
22
Community
regular features
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Who doesn’t need a boost once in a while? There are many days when I think, “I wish I had some help right now!” Sometimes in the life of disability it can feel overwhelm-
ing. Many days I wish I could find more hours to add to the day or even that the day would just start over. I know I am not alone in my thought processes. Sometimes it is just nice to know that there is someone else out there that thinks the same way as I do or understands, without a lot of explanation, my unusual life. Sometimes I just need a little boost of energy or companionship to help me refocus my thoughts.
Is that you? Do you wish you were understood? Do you need a boost? As a family with dis-ability we invite you to join the rest of us once a month for an evening of fun and relaxation for the whole family. Starting in April, Lift Disability Network will host an evening for fami-lies to enjoy food, fun and friends. For a few hours on the first Friday of each month we will gather to maybe worship together, play some games and eat some yummy food. Doesn’t that sound good? Look for the ad in this issue of Lift Magazine for more details. Guess what the evenings will be called? That’s right, BOOST!
We hope this issue of Lift Magazine will give you a little boost as well!
Enjoy!
Rhonette HukillEditor in Chief
Editor’s Letter
Need a Boost?
EDITOR IN CHIEF Rhonette Hukill
SENIOR EDITOR Dr. Mike Beates
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Caregiver Conversations Rhonette Hukill
Community Jim HukillCrafting Community Leanne Goddard
Fitness Heather Pennington Lead Jim Hukill
Life on the Horizon Chris Maxwell Mom’s Moments Nicolette Samuel
Outdoor Adventures Doug GoddardA Pastoral Lift Dr. Ken Dignan
Lift Disability Network PO Box 770607
Winter Garden, FL 34777 407.228.8343
Vision Statement: Elevating Life in the Disability Family
Mission Statement: Our mission is to unite in Love, connect to Learn and empower to Lead
Value Statement: We value the supremacy of Life
Copyright © 2011 Lift Disability Network. No part may be reproduced without written
permission from publisher.
EDITORIAL COMMENTS & SUBSCRIPTION QUERIESPlease e-mail [email protected]
Phone 407.228.8343. Or write to: Lift Disability Network
PO Box 770607, Winter Garden, FL 34777
Magazine
THERE’S MORE TO SEE ONLINE.Check out our website at
LiftDisability.net
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Lead
One of the great values of Lift Disability Network is linking arms with a variety
of individuals, churches, organizations, and companies to advance the cause of disability issues within our local community. We find great value in collaborative work since such work accomplishes a greater good for our cul-ture and community.
In many cases to carry out this value, it re-quires me, the Executive Director, to partici-pate on local boards and committees. While this causes a great deal of stress upon my time and energy, my main concern is how it affects or impacts my personal perspective and beliefs. Often, my personal feathers can be ruffled a bit as I engage in these relation-ships as they confront my personal beliefs.
Whether we appreciate it or not, the disabil-ity community is often part of a larger con-versation that has been labeled “diversity.” Di-versity has become an important term in the workplace, in the political environment, and in new church growth processes.
Recently, I was confronted with the thought, “What happens when our diversity collides with our doctrine?” This was a very provoca-tive point for my consideration. You see, as with many, I have been raised to look at some communities with an eye of mistrust and with a heart of disdain. Not to mention the fact, that my belief system categorizes individu-
als and people groups with a critical Christian viewpoint of sinners versus believers mental-ity. Automatically, this wages a warfare within my spirit.
I have found this conflict could also be true within denominational doctrinal systems. As we attach ourselves to our doctrinal teach-ings, we immediately began to divide the Christian family into a variety of segments. The further a group is removed from our be-lief system, the more they are viewed as he-retical and should not be considered as a vi-able worship/faith community.
Unfortunately, this same tension has even appeared among fellow ministries seeking to
Thank God for Disability
BY JIM HUKILL
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JIM HUKILL is the Founder and Director of Lift Disability Network. Throughout his life Jim has rolled his wheelchair past one barrier after another and the result is a schooled life in overcoming limits.
Lead
accomplish similar goals. Such tension really begins to divide our mission to reach people with disabilities with the message that Jesus loves them and can equip them to become amazing witnesses of the living Christ.
Often this collision of ideas and doctrine is projected by the messages that we send to each other. This was a particular consider-ation of a recent presentation that I attended. The speaker laid out the concept that many of us do not alienate others by words, but by our micro-actions. For example, in today’s culture it is common, when we become angry with someone, to simply exclude them from our text messages or “defriend” them from our Facebook.
The concept of this micro-messaging has permeated my thoughts. I have been ques-tioning, “What kind of messages am I sending to my wife through subtle actions?” “What am I saying to those who care for me every day?” “What messages are my colleagues receiving from me?” And more importantly, “What mes-sage are those far from God hearing from me through my exclusionary actions?”
Thank God for disability. For this frailty of man has kept me and my prideful beliefs in check. I can’t imagine what I would be; or worse, I can’t imagine how I might act if it weren’t for my disability reminding me of my own poverty and need for someone to erase the walls of isolation. Frankly, my disability does not allow me the convenience of per-sonal prejudice. I need people. I need some-one. I need God.
My conclusion to this ongoing tension with-in my soul is this: when the diversity of culture collides with my personal doctrine, the explo-sion or shrapnel should be LOVE. Because He, Jesus, first loves me, I should love all others. After all, those at the foot of the cross make up a very diverse community.
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CarryingBY CHRIS MAXWELL
My arm stayed sore longer than I expect-ed. Carrying luggage and boxes on a
trip used a few muscles I rarely use. The lug-gage got put away, the pain stayed around.
Sometimes we carry luggage in our life ex-periences. The weight often robs us of joy while walking, while holding, while carrying. Luggage like bitterness, unforgiveness, re-sentment, greed, low self-esteem, self-hate, gossip, control, and demanding always to be right? Their heavy weight holds us back. Their resistance to be removed robs us of the free-dom to travel into new land. We need to lose such luggage. Though not always simple, we can let these things go. Admitting our tenden-cies to hold the damaging bags tightly, con-fessing to a friend the presence of our com-mon companions, and requesting help from a trusted counselor or accountability partner, we can toss the gear goodbye. Those belong-ings do not belong.
What about luggage of frustration related to our disabilities and struggles? What about the luggage of guilt knowing that we need help from others to carry us, and our luggage?
Although such luggage of life needs to be tossed aside, other companions are healthy. And needed. And elements of our develop-ment of life. Those pieces, unlike the damag-ing bags, we should value. View them as car-ry-on luggage. They belong with us.
Life on the Horizon
Think about it. Much of our experiences bring boxes—healthy boxes—with them. In-stead of ignoring them, forgetting them, or seeking ways to drop them off, what if we en-joyed the weight?
I often write or say this phrase: “Enjoy the journey.” With those same three words I seek to find what keeps so many of us from enjoy-ing our life journeys.
What previous experiences have inhibited our efforts, damaged our dreams, scarred our inner selves, and allowed bitterness to find a dwelling place within us? What mistakes do we or others continue to make—do we lack forgiveness, place blame, and refuse to ac-cept responsibility? Why do hurts lure us to-ward hurting others? Who controls what we do?
Yes, heavy questions. But needed questions. If we want to pursue new relational and emo-tional territory, shouldn’t we identify how for-mer worlds have frightened us and defeated us, or inspired us and accepted us? Shouldn’t we gain a better understanding of why we do what we do, and why we want to become the people we seek to become?
Take a moment to think. To rethink. To re-visit your past. To refuse to let previous pains control your present moods and future goals. Forgive and move on. Visit a person or place you’ve avoided. Be nice to a person who has
CHRIS MAXWELL
is an author, pastor, spiritual life director, and international speaker for epilepsy.
www.chrismaxwellweb.com
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never been nice to you—and, do so wanting and expecting nothing in return.
Think of what you can do to make your at-titude and your community better. What new goals can you set? What old hurts can you re-lease so their throbbing doesn’t control your mood any longer? What healthy companions should you welcome and accept? What emo-tional and relational foods don’t taste great but bring better health to you if you digest them instead of avoiding them?
And, as we enjoy the journey, I pray none of us continues to carry loads of unnecessary material that can rob us of truly living this thing called life.
From Chris Maxwell’s latest book Pause: The Secret to a Better Life, One Word at a Time.
http://www.amazon.com/Pause-Secret-Better-Life-Word/dp/1935769332/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358805636&sr=8-1&keywords=chris+maxwell+pause
Life on the Horizon
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A Pastoral Lift
No one ever wants prob-lems or difficulties to
come their way. Trials devel-op the genuineness of your faith. Suffering challenges, due to all kinds of trials, is God’s way of developing and proving the genuineness of your true faith and trust in God. As gold is refined by fire so too your faith can be re-fined by fire through suffer-ing difficulties, trials and test-ing’s, whether emotionally, mentally or physically.
God allows trials to come to every believer so they will learn to trust in God and de-pend on Him more. Jesus said it should be expected that tri-als are a regular part of life. “In this world you will have tribulations, but be of good courage, I have overcome the world of tribulations and will help you get through them too” (John 16:33).
The Gospel of Luke tells all disciples of Christ that they
“Why do I have to suffer so much?”Part One (Not Home Yet)
BY REV. KENNETH M. DIGNAN, Th.D.
must go through many tribu-lations in life: “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and ex-horting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation en-ter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
God uses trials because it’s His goal that your faith in Him continues to grow stronger:
“In all this you greatly re-joice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of tri-als. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is re-vealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inex-pressible and glorious joy…” (1 Peter 1:6-8).
This passage tells us we should rejoice and be thank-ful when trials come our way. That sounds a bit crazy doesn’t it? Well, I guess if you want to grow in your Chris-tian life, you have to come to a place where you accept the fact that the major tool God uses for spiritual growth is suffering and trials.
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REV. KEN DIGNAN, Th.D.is the Lift Dis-ability Ministry Pastor and Founder/Direc-tor of THC/Ken Dignan Minis-tries. Ken and Joni have been
married for 34 years and have 4 sons, Andy, Patrick, the late Ryan, and Britt.
www.thcmin.org
A Pastoral Lift
Isaiah tells us, “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (Isa-iah 48:10). Just as gold has to be melted by fire in order to be shaped, so too our faith must be put through the fire of trials so we can be mold-ed more into Christ’s image. These uncomfortable experi-
ences called trials serve as a pressure cooker to develop our faith.
God promises to be with us each step of the way when-ever we face and go through problems. “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenheart-
ed and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:17-18).
The well known passage Psalm 23 reminds us also of this: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and staff they com-fort me” (Psalm 23:4 NIV).
We must remember that as long as we’re on this earth we are, “Not Home Yet.” In this life we need God to be our Shepherd to lead us, guide us, comfort us, and provide for us until we get to Heaven.
(to be continued in the Sum-mer Issue)
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The “House of the Mouse” is a long way from the city
streets of Brooklyn, New York. So too is the life I have now compared to what everyone thought I would have. I have Cerebral Palsy. When you say that, the picture most people get in their mind is of some-one sitting in a wheelchair, with a speech impediment, who can’t do much for them-selves. That’s not true in my case. Though I wasn’t sup-posed to walk, I’ve had sur-geries that today allow me to walk with just my cane. I have a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and have held a hand-ful of jobs. Now, I am a stay at home mom.
That’s right, I said “stay at home mom.” I made that choice a long time ago though it’s taken a while to see this dream come to fruition. I married almost 5 years ago. My son was born almost a year and half ago. When I became pregnant, people were worried about my health and the effect pregnancy would have on my disability. I wasn’t. I have an awesome doctor who I to-
tally trust and knew wouldn’t steer me wrong. As my belly got bigger, the people who stared became more appar-ent. Whether I was walking with my cane or in my scoot-er (because my belly was get-ting so big, the extra weight would throw me off balance), I was proud to be taking care of my baby, no matter what anyone else thought.
I’m not sure what people are thinking while we’re out. In the past, I’ve read different articles about people with disabilities becoming par-ents. For the most part, it’s discouraged for various rea-sons, even today. It doesn’t really bother me either way. The most important thing is that I know my son is well taken care of and his life is full of love.
A house, a wife, and a mom to a beautiful little boy, a lot of people didn’t even think I could carry through a healthy pregnancy. Every day is full of his beautiful smile and conta-gious laugh. I can’t help but be very thankful and realize how lucky I am.
It hasn’t been an easy jour-
Parenting with an Unlikely Spin
A Parent’s Thought ney. I remember being the one who wasn’t supposed to accomplish much in life be-cause of my disability. A lot of people are still stuck on the myth that if you have a disability, you can’t possibly be intelligent. I have prob-ably accomplished more things in my life than a lot of people who aren’t disabled. Every step I have taken and every barrier I have had to overcome has been worth it. I’m even more excited to see what else I can accomplish and what other barriers I’ll be able to break down in the future. The moral of this story is that in life, anything is pos-sible. No dream is too far out of reach. You may just have to think outside the box to find the smoothest path there.
BY CHRISTINNE RUDD
CHRISTINNE RUDD is a dis-ability advocate, speaker, author, and consultant. Mrs. Rudd holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Legal Studies and a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice both from the Uni-versity of Central Florida.
Her interests include Parenting with a Disability, Disabled Victims of Crime, IEP issues and the ADA. She authors a disability-related blog at http://mamasmunchkin.wordpress.com/ She is originally from Brook-lyn, New York and moved to Or-lando in 1996. You can reach her at [email protected]
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30’ Competing Canoes • 42 Paddlers • Fund-raising Goal $20,000 • Benefi tting Lift Breakaway Retreat
• Minimum individual goal of $250 gets a seat in the canoe
• Corporate Races
• Prizes and Champions awarded
• Picnic and Fun for the whole family
• To paddle or donate to support one of our paddlers. Contact [email protected] for details.
Sign up today and help Lift to continue to Elevate Life in the Disability Family!
3rd ANNUAL PADDLE CHALLENGE20
13
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liftdisability.net/paddle
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NICOLETTE SAMUEL has been married 15 years to her husband Shaker. Combined they have 3 children. With her husband being a Pastor, Nicolette finds herself very involved in church ministry. Over the years she has learned many les-sons, many of which come from her daughter, Hannah, who has Down syndrome.
Do what I say, not what I doBY NICOLETTE SAMUEL
Mom’s Moments
Most parents know the old saying, “Do what I say, not what I do.” This is basi-
cally just our verbal admission of our frequent failures as parents to back up our words with consistent actions. In Romans 7:15, the Apos-tle Paul, (speaking a bit like Dr. Seuss, as a friend once observed), says “I do not under-stand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” As a Christian par-ent, I desire to model Godly behavior for my daughter. But unfortunately, this doesn’t al-ways happen. This explains why my daughter, when she is frustrated, makes the same noise as I do, which is this growl that resonates from the back of my throat.
I have my fair share of shortcomings, and I pray daily for grace that God would move in and through me regardless of them. Espe-cially because my daughter Hannah is like my little shadow, often literally, I am all the more aware of my own behavior.
A silly example happened the other day when I was sick. I was having those lovely chills you get, so in an attempt to get warm, I
was wearing a hat, gloves, scarf, and a fleece jacket. Quite like my own mom, I might add. Anyway, Hannah sat down next to me and said, “I’m cold.” So I told her to go get her blan-ket. Taking longer than necessary to accom-plish this errand, I finally called out “What are you doing?” She slowly moves into my view from around the corner, and stands, fully dressed in her winter coat, gloves, hat, scarf, and even the earmuffs. She was also wear-ing that smile that tells me she is trying to be funny. I laughed so hard, I think I embarrassed her.
In his letter to the church in Philippi, we read these words from the Apostle Paul: “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you”(Philippians 4:9). It’s interesting to note the words he writes just prior. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admi-rable – if anything is excellent or praisewor-thy – think about such things.” Hopefully, my daughter will think about such things as well.
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Herb-Roasted Chicken with Melted TomatoesMakes: 6 Servings
Ingredients1/2 medium red onion, roughly chopped 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh tarragon 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh dill 1/4 cup chopped walnuts 3 cloves garlic 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1 cup plain yogurt 1 6- to 7-pound roasting chicken 2 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Pulse the onion, parsley, cilantro, tarragon, 2 tablespoons dill, the walnuts and garlic in a food processor. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil, the vinegar, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper to taste; pulse until smooth. Stir half of the herb paste with the yogurt in a small bowl; cover and refrigerate.
Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Loosen the skin with your fingers; rub some of the remaining herb paste under the skin and the rest on the outside of the bird. Truss the chicken. Place in a roasting pan; roast until the skin turns golden, about 30 min-utes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Toss the tomatoes with the remaining 1 table-spoon olive oil in a bowl; season with salt and pepper. Baste the chicken with the drippings and add the tomatoes, cut-side down, to the pan. Continue roasting until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 155 degrees, about 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper; let the chicken rest 10 minutes before carving.
Arrange the chicken and tomatoes on a platter; sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons dill. Serve with the yogurt sauce.
- See more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/herb-roasted-chicken-with-melted-tomatoes-recipe/index.html#sthash.SqTPUACb.dpuf
Mom’s Moments
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Oh man, now I’m stuck! I don’t want to ex-ercise, it is not any fun.
In November we had our first Blue Jean Ball fundraiser for Lift. There were several auction items. Another friend, who appar-ently cares for me like Heather, suggested I bid on a month free membership to a local gym. What?!? I have my own Jim. I don’t need to GO to a gym. With some resistance and knowing the money was going for a good cause I bid on the item. Of course I won. Of course! Now what? So off to the gym I went with fear and trepidation. It was good my friend didn’t tell me the type of workout it was or I would have gone screaming in the other direction.
After I signed the release form, in case I would die while I was there, the trainer said to grab a set of gloves and meet him on the mat. What in the world!? He asked if I ever boxed before. I laughed in his face. I’m a girl let’s be serious. The routine was a mixture of High Cardio with weights, stretching and boxing. That first day I thought I was going to die! I really had no idea how out of shape and weak my body was. It was so bad when we got to the “abs” section I couldn’t even do one full sit up.
Here’s where the spiritual and emotional part comes in. If I’m going to survive this training I need to spend some time pray-ing because this is just not for me and I look
Over the years as a caregiver, I have had my share of aches and pains as my body
is twisted and pulled in directions it doesn’t want to go. The same goes for Jim as I tug and push and shove his body in and out of the wheelchair, bed, etc. In recent years, and with age, I have seen these pains increase. “Someone should really do something about this,” I think.
This summer as we wrapped up our camp-ing season, my dear friend Heather Pen-nington, who writes our fitness column, suggested I do some exercises and stretches on a regular basis to stay strong and help my aching muscles. She then proceeded to give me a mile long list of pictures and tutorials of how to do them, EVERY DAY! She even went so far as to buy me some equipment, the nerve! As one who always rises to a task she is given and has a hard time saying no, I begin to try some of the exercises. Those of you that know me know that I hate exer-cise but I didn’t want to let my friend down so I endured. A few weeks into the process I noticed some slight changes. It was then that Jim came to me with an article he had read about caregivers. A portion of it read, “Ac-cording to the National Academy of Sciences, family caregivers who experience extreme stress can have as much as ten years shaved off their own life. So it’s imperative that you make your physical, psychological, and emo-tional health a priority.”
I’m Off and Running, and I’m Not Turning BackBY RHONETTE HUKILL
Caregiver Conversations
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ridiculous. Plus, how do I fit this into my already busy schedule? Without the help of the Holy Spirit I am pretty sure I would have given up. Each time I drove to the gym with butterflies in my stomach, I would pray the whole way that God would help me see the purpose in all of this and find some joy.
Fast forward 3 months later… Jim has been asking who I am and what I did with his wife. For someone who HATED exercise, I have now been known to suggest it to others and on occasion have announced, “I think I’ll go out for a run.” I don’t know if having a regu-lar workout routine will help restore the ten years that supposedly I’m in danger of losing, but I have found the joy and energy I was seeking and my husband seems to like the results it is bringing.
Thank you to my friends who cared for me to suggest I get fit, not to look better but to
FEEL better and to extend my life and energy as I care for my husband. To all my caregiv-ing friends, read on… “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beck-oning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and run-ning, and I’m not turning back” (Philippians 3:13-14).
minnesota retreat
RHONETTE HUKILL has been a full-time caregiver to her wonder-ful husband, Jim, for over 18 years. Together, by God’s grace, they face the everyday challenges of life with disability.
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Dad’s Den
It was Christmas—and there I was on my hands
and knees in the bathroom, cleaning up urine…again.
“I’m getting too old for this.”
The scrubbing became more fervent as a wallowing sigh of “Why me?” escaped from my heart and a few self-pitying tears fell to the floor mixing with the mess from my teenage son’s latest “ac-complishment.”
Suddenly, I’m caught off guard by the unexpected, comforting presence of the Almighty. My mood chang-es, my heart warms, and the hard tile floor becomes soft under my knees. I close my eyes, smile and whisper a ver-bal surrender, “Thank You.”
The smell of urine is miracu-lously transformed into the sweet aroma of God’s mercy and grace.
Weeping and talking to God while soaking up a urine-puddled floor with fragments of disintegrating toilet paper could be mistaken for mild
Cleaning Up Urine and Praising God
hysteria, unless I took you back about nineteen years into the life of my disabled son.
That’s when I changed my first diaper as a new dad. I can still remember the smell of baby powder and Desitin as I gingerly picked Jake’s two little feet off the chang-ing table with one hand, ner-vously lifting them into the air and wiping while my wife coached me through the en-tire event, “You’re doing fine.” She encouraged. “You’re not going to break him. Get every crease and crevice; you don’t want him to get a rash.”
I was like a medical intern
BY GREG LUCAS
nervously fidgeting over my first patient as the doctor ob-served and instructed.
After a while I got used to it. I even became good at it.
Sometimes I would play a game with Jake where I set a timer and acted like a calf-roper at a rodeo, “GO! And the diaper is OFF! And the butt is CLEANED! And the new dia-per is ON!” I would throw my hands into the air when I completed the cinch and yell, “TIME!” Jake would always grin at my diaper wrangling antics.
As the months went by I considered myself a profes-sional diaper changer—if
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Dad’s Den
GREG LUCAS is a police officer in West Virginia, a graduate of Boyce college, and a Bible teacher and advisor for The Elisha Foun-dation, which encourages families experiencing disability toward a more intimate faith in Christ. He is also the author of Wrestling with an Angel: A Story of Love, Disabil-ity and the Lessons of Grace. Greg blogs at sheepdogger/blogspot.com Greg and his wife, Kimberly Ann, have four children.
there ever were such a thing. I could literally change my son’s diaper with one hand while talking on the phone and flipping through the channels with the remote between cartoons and kids’ shows.
Then the months turned into years and we eventually began the tedious process of toilet training. But Jake didn’t get it. His cerebral palsy left him with little control and au-tism stole away any personal concern for soiling his pants. To make matters worse Jake suffered from a terrible sen-sory integration issue that made him fearful of bath-rooms, running water, or be-ing naked.
As the years passed, Jake’s disabilities became more and more profound and the dai-ly, hourly fight to toilet train was eventually abandoned for bigger diapers and boxes upon boxes of baby wipes. The house took on the smell of an unkempt care facility and accidents became more and more graphic–from urine stained pants, socks and shoes to fecal matter smeared on walls and in hair.
Jake became less coop-erative and more combative
with every birthday. He hated being cleaned.
Diaper changing turned into a time of desperate prayer and pleading with God, “You don’t have to heal every disability of my son, but could you just let him be able to use the bathroom in the toi-let? I can take the non-verbal autism, PDDNOS, OCD and ce-rebral palsy, but I don’t think I can change another diaper!”
I was wrong. I could change more diapers, many more—thousands more.
And then, through a rather miraculous turn of events, af-ter years and years of chang-ing myriad after myriad of diapers, God answered our prayers. Jake was seventeen years old when he first used the toilet, and by the time he turned 18 he could go on his own. Accidents were still common, but he got it. He fi-nally got it!
I remember well the first time he signed “potty” in public. We were in a Wal-Mart Superstore. I rushed him to the men’s room and he pulled down his pants on his own and began peeing. He peed all over the seat, the wall and the stall. He was laughing and jumping up and down
in celebration while urine streamed like water from a lawn sprinkler. I was laughing and crying and praising God. Not one drop went into the toilet, but Jake wore under-wear that day and his pants stayed dry.
So here I am. It’s Christmas. Jake is nineteen years old. The entire extended family is gathered around the dinner table eating a Christmas feast and talking about their kid’s amazing accomplishments and events, from scholarships to dean’s lists to upcoming weddings.
And I’m on my hands and knees on the bathroom floor—cleaning up urine again…and praising God.
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I was running this morning and it was absolutely
glorious! It was about 32 degrees with sun rays just peeking up over the clouds. Some may not agree that running early in the morning in frigid temperatures is glorious, but when God shows up, it’s always amazing. As I continued to run, I came to the top of a hill, and I was in awe at the sight of the amber, golden, copper, and violet rays of sunshine warming the bottom of the sea of clouds that graced the sky. No sun shown it’s beautiful round shape yet, just an array of beams and colors falling so elegantly on the morning clouds.
It literally took my breath away (or that could have been the hill ). But, in that moment I was thankful for God and His creation, His beauty and grace that He bestows on us, but doesn’t have to because we don’t deserve it. The sight was just magnificent. I paused and longed to stay at the top and soak in the sight, but hearing work and the
worries of the world calling, I turned my head downward and continued to run. This time I was headed down the hill, and the sky changed as I went. At the bottom, the sky was a normal morning hue and pretty, but nothing like the view from the top. So, I pressed on thinking of the day and all that had to be done, trying to get a handle on it all. I turned and then ran back up another hill with my eyes still on the gravel in front of my toes. When I reached the top, my eyes lifted, and to my glorious surprise the sky was that same amazing hue. It glittered as the sun hit the frost on the trees and the rays poured through the clouds. Wow… I paused again and thanked God.
I pondered for a moment, and thought, “What had changed?” The sights of the sky hadn’t changed in that short downhill trot… but my PERSPECTIVE changed. When I returned to the PERSPECTIVE of magnificence up on heights of the hill, the beauty was still present. I wonder
Fitness
if that is what God is trying to tell us as we live this life of trial and struggle. Maybe He was challenging me this morning in the chill of that early morning air, “What is your PERSPECTIVE? Have you turned away, down the hill and thought and worried about the cares of the world, or have you stayed on Me… on My PERSPECTIVE?” When we have the Lord’s view on life, it is a beautiful morning sunrise, ablaze with His glory and Presence. When I trot downhill, head down sulking with the weight of the world, I lose His perspective. I focus on self, not on His glory.
I encourage us all to run uphill, even if for a moment to breathe in and take in the beauty of the Lord. As you think about your fitness/health goals for 2013, make them fresh, new, and enjoyable. Let’s put on the Lord’s perspective for taking care of our bodies this year. Because we are looking heavenward, fitness and health can be fun, refreshing, and recreational. Looking
Perspective – The View from the HilltopBY HEATHER PENNINGTON
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HEATHER PENNINGTON MA Ed, CSCS; Personal Training and Fitness Plan-ning/Consulting.
Fitnessupward can also cause us to rely completely on the Lord’s strength to meet these goals, as it states in Habakkuk 3:19, “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to tread on the heights.”
Striving to have the Lord’s view about our bodies can give us a new perspective. Instead of begrudgingly eating right or exercising (as if we are trudging downhill with heavy feet), we can take on the world and improve our health in light of God’s beauty, presence, and grace (as if we are lifting our eyes to the hills and rising up to new heights). Even Jesus looked upward to His Heavenly Father and
had the perspective of living on the heights. John 11:41 says, “So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me,’” and again in John 17:1, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” My prayer for us all in 2013 as we think on our health and fitness goals is that we would FOLLOW JESUS to look upward, and take on a “HEIGHTS” perspective about caring for our bodies. Pick a new recreational hobby, consistently get involved with an activity you enjoy, take on a new habit of drinking more water, stretch one more day a week, or eat 1-2 more servings of vegetables, fruits, and
whole grains per day. Let’s rise to the challenge and raise our chins to call upon God to give us the strength to do it, even if it means that there are moments of struggling up hill. Psalm 34:5 says, “Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Be radiant like that early morning sunrise and strive for His perspective so that we can live life on the hilltop with His perspective on our health and fitness goals this year.
Energize your life with a night of fun, food, and friends. If you are a family living with disability join us for this incredible evening. Don’t worry about dinner we pro-vide it for you. Want a chance to laugh, we got that too. Need more information or want to volunteer? Give us a shout at [email protected]
First Friday of Each Month
6:30-9:00pm
at Oviedo Presbyterian Church
2405 Lockwood Blvd, Oviedo, FL 32765
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Community
Lindsay: My Life with Down Syndrome
I write a blog for Shepherds College. People read it to learn about our program, our classes, our teach-
ers, our students, the lessons, the rules – just about anything having to do with our unique school.
One of the most popular blogs is based on an inter-view with Lindsay, a second-year student with Down syndrome. Last year she was chosen as an ambassa-dor to the Down Syndrome Buddy Walk in Neenah, Wisc.
As an Ambassador, Lindsay wants people to under-stand what it’s like to live with Down syndrome. Her
story is both educational and inspira-tional and deserves to be shared with a wider audience.
“I have an extra chromosome that gives me a slow learning in my brain. It’s called Down syndrome. It also makes my feet function differently. I walk on the balls of my feet. It hurts to walk flat-footed. It gives me cramps in my legs.
I went to a public high school, but I was in Special Education. My friends were mostly teachers because the other students weren’t like me. They had the ability to learn faster than me. The stu-dents didn’t talk to me much – usually just ignored me.
At home, my dad really understood my disability. I could talk to him and he knew what I was trying to say.
As an ambassador to people with Down syndrome, I want people to know that Down syndrome is just an ability for us to grow in our knowledge. We don’t like to be called ‘retarded.’ Down syndrome is just something that people have because it is part of their purpose, part of what they were designed for.
Other people need to know that it’s important to treat people with respect, and act with integrity. And responsibil-ity also comes with having Down syn-drome. When people see good charac-
BY SUSAN GRIFFIS
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Community
ter in us, hopefully they will give it back to us.
Many people are willing to support people with Down syndrome, not just ignore us. People with Down syndrome should not give up on themselves.
I want to say to the people with Down syn-drome that my main purpose is to let them know that I can be a voice for them if they need one. I know about their situation in life. We are a part of God’s purpose too. He put us here, so we can have more hope and confidence that we can succeed in the future.
There is more to disability than taking it seri-ously. Our personalities should show too. We need a sense of humor in life. We need to show who we are, not just the disability we have.
There are things that make me feel bad about having Down syndrome - emotionally, in my heart. I see people treating people like me badly – bossing them around and picking on them. We don’t always know how to respond when people act like this to us. There is a lot to like about Down syndrome. We’re easy people to be friends with, and friends are there forever. I also think it’s easy for us to be loving, caring and helpful. Many people with Down syndrome are blessed in a special way like that. I just want peace between people with disability and peo-ple who don’t have disability.
I’ve never done this before – being an Am-bassador for people with Down syndrome. I’m nervous, but I’m going to show confidence and faith. I know I can achieve my goals of being more confident, getting an education, under-standing my emotions and growing spiritually.
I not only want to be an advocate, I want to be
SUSAN GRIFFIS , is the Direc-tor of Marketing for Shepherds College, a faith-based, accredited school for young adults with intellectual disabilities. To learn more about Shepherds College, visit the website at
www.shepherdscollege.org or read more at shepherdscollegeblog.blogspot.com
my own guardian as well. I want to be trusted with my own life. I want my ideas to be taken se-riously, and I want to work at a place like Shep-herds College to help other people find their ability. These inspirations come from my heart.
The most important thing to tell my friends is that God is the biggest thing to look for. Find His character and put it in your heart.”
elevating life in the disability familywww.liftdisability.net
