I am having a bad day at the group home, the sort of day where I find myself drafting resignation letters in my head. There is too much to do, and not enough time. There is too much paperwork, and not enough relationship with the people the paperwork is meant to serve. There are too [...]
I want everyone to have the experience that I had that day – to be in a space where there is true love and acceptance for each member. Where people show up with their whole, unedited selves and are embraced.
Mirabel Madrigal does not have a visible disability but many people with disabilities may relate to her in some ways. [...] The Madrigal family initially characterizes Mirabel as “unexceptional,” and “not special.” [...] people with disabilities are often characterized in opposite terminology, being referred to as “special” or “exceptional.” However, the premise of the distinction is similar
It is a weekday morning, and I am present, here in this beautiful place in this good company, and I am doing my job. These are not stolen moments, but given ones, gifts we have given to one another.
Through this interaction I experienced the truth of wisdom offered by Canadian, Christian accessibility advocate, Judith Snow, who shared that everyone has two unique gifts: presence and difference. Through these, every person has the capacity to form half of a meaningful interaction with another person or people.
My favorite twenty minutes of each day is when I get to help John Michael eat. He can’t do it on his own, and even with help, he can’t do it quickly. It takes time and concentration on both of our parts. It’s a dance.
He didn’t seem to me to think that Moses’s challenges or limitations were worth focusing on. Instead, he emphasized their relationship. Since Aaron did not focus on his older brother’s challenges or limitations, he caused me to wonder, why should I?
Christian Horizons' fourth service principle contains countercultural messages that may powerfully impact the self-concepts of people who experience disability, transform the work of the church and benefit society as a whole if practiced effectively.
In my endeavors to learn and be enriched, I cannot discount the experience I gain from being in relationship with others. I can acquire knowledge, capacity, and skills from academic study and reading and yet it has been when I have engaged in community and established friendships with people with exceptional needs that I have gained the most.
I believe that my kids are understood by their Creator, one who intercedes for all of us when words fail or aren’t possible. I believe that as complicated as they may seem, both Rachel and Janneke have purpose, a purpose that may simply be to motivate the rest of us to care and be more caring.
