Human Nature

I received this story in my email today. I had heard it before, but since I now work with people who have disabilities, it hit deeper then it did the first time. This story is truly evidence that God works in amazing ways and his love conquers all things. Yes, sin is a part of our nature, but so is the image of God and the following story demonstrates that God made us to love. We were made to reflect Him, how wonderfully this story captures it.

To the author, I apologize that I do not know your name. Your story is beautiful though.

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do.He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. "I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."Then he told the following story:Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat.Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit as low ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath,Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay" Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third!"As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators,were on their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world". Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

Autumn Colors

I love autumn. It is probably my favorite season. My favorite things about autumn are the changing colors, the sound of leaves crunching, and the cool, cool nights and the warmer days. I remember when I was younger, I thought the trees looked like God uprooted them, stuck the tops into paint and then let the paint slowly drip to the bottom leaves. I still love that image. The trees are God's paintbrushes. Just saying it puts a wonderful image in my mind.

The one thing I miss most about Kansas would be all the different colors hillsides of trees. Here, in Colorado, to see hillsides of trees, you have to go deep into Rocky Mountain National Park and the trees are either evergreens or Aspens. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Aspens and evergreens. Aspens are very Colorado, their leaf shape is very soothing and they turn a pretty yellow in the fall. But, back in Kansas, you had bright oranges and reds, along with yellow colored leaves. In Baldwin City, KS they have a Maple Leaf Festival because there are maple trees planted all over the town. In the autumn the whole town turns orange (see picture below of my sister and I back in the 80's at this festival).

Even the smell of autumn is different. I love having to bundle up at night and the feeling of snuggling in a blanket as a cool autumn wind stirs in the house. My teapots come out more often and I enjoy drinking a pot of hot tea while snuggled up with a good book (with the windows open of course). Just the thought of autumn makes me feel warm and wonderful inside.

I would love to here other people's ideas about their favorite season or word pictures about autumn.

Enjoy the season.

Denise and I in Baldwin City, KS at the Maple Leaf Festival

My Miracle

Most of us have had a moment where things seem to go in slow motion. Well, that happened to me today. Before I talk about what happened, I have to marvel at how calm I stayed. I know God was with me and I am so thankful for what he has done for me today.

It was a pretty busy day for me at work today. I got into work, did some quick paperwork and then off to a meeting at Foothills. This was not a meeting I was looking forward to. Sure enough, it was very tense and I found myself getting very defensive. I remember praying to Jesus to help me. At the end of the meeting, things seemed to clear and everyone left happy. Answered prayer number one. Then I had to rush out of there and drive to Wellington for a home visit. That was uneventful and I was able to wrap up, grab some lunch and get back on the road to attend another home visit in Loveland. Here is where the big miracle happened! I'm driving along I-25 South and I am in the process of passing a car on my right. All of a sudden, they decide they want to pass the truck in front of them when my car is lined up with their back door. Slow motion begins at the point I realize I am about to get side swiped at 75 miles per hour. This isn't their turn signal was on and I need to get out of the way realization, though. This was they were already entering my lane. Usually, when I am close to getting hit by someone I forget to lay on my horn, because I am so tense and preoccupied with trying to avoid the other person. I started to pull to my left and let off the gas and then I laid on my horn. It seemed like my reaction time was really slow, still, but I realize that I was going in slow motion. Miraculously, the other car heard me and swerved back to the right. Since, it was in slow motion and happening quickly at the same time (isn't that weird how both can happen at the same time) I'm not sure just how close the other car came to hitting me. That really doesn't matter because I am safe, the other driver is safe, and I stayed completely calm the whole time. Typically, if I am almost in an accident, I heart jumps out of my chest via my throat, I am shaking, crying, and all the muscles in my arms and legs are cramping up. This time, not one of those symptoms passed. Instead, I marveled at my lack of physical response and then gave praise to God for his incredible protection of both myself, the other drivers nearby. I really have no concept of what kind of damage would have been done if we had collided. I was going 78/79 and they were going close to 75. I'm not a physics expert, but I don't think all of us could have walked away from that without divine intervention.

Anyway, I call this my miracle story. Not only because I was protected from a potentially fatal accident, but my heart and attitude during and after was protected. I could have screamed at the other person, instead I was thankful they were safe, too. I could tell it shook them up, because they slowed way down. There was such a peace in my heart, I know it didn't come from me. That's not my normal fallen way of responding. This was certainly a God thing. I marvel at what grace, mercy, protection, and love God showed me today. Thank you, Jesus, that because of you, I have Creator as my loving Papa and Daddy. And because of you, I have the Spirit to help me respond in a way that glorifies God.

My heart is singing!

Early Monring

I can't believe I am blogging at 6:30 in the morning. My cat woke me up and I decided to go ahead and get up. It will be nice to be at work early. I have a lot of appointments this morning and this way I will be able to get some work done before hand.
Sometimes, I really wonder about the motivations of others. Currently, I have a situation where I received a complaint from one of my parents. However, it was given by another agency on behalf of the parent. I emailed the parent and let them know I received the complaint and I would like to address these issues with her. Just a note, this is also a parent that I talk with frequently and these complaints really threw me for a whirl. I got an email back from the parent, very surprised that she had made these complaints, explaining that things were taken out of context. Now I have to ask, "what drove the other person to make the complaint"? Was it truly a misunderstanding of what she heard from the parent? I will find out more this morning since I meet with the parent and she is going to fill me in on the conversation she had with this other person. What irks me about the whole situation is this complaint was made by another agency to the Community Center Board rather than the parent making the complaint directly to me. I then get something from the CCB letting me know about it. All of these in between people and it never really addresses the issue which is a moot point. All it has done is made me look like I am not doing my job. A part of me says I shouldn't care whether I look bad or not, but at my core I do. I don't like looking like I failed. I know I can't be perfect, but I really don't want to look incompetent, lazy, or deficient. Perhaps, that is my worse fear, that I am those things and people are seeing right through me. Something for me to ponder some more.
Tonight I am going to a birthday party some of the people I serve are throwing for one of their providers. It should be fun as these girls are great fun to be with and I enjoy their company.
Well, I should take my shower and get ready for work. May everyone enjoy this gorgeous day and may the weekend be relaxing and fun.

Avoiding Sleep

I don't know why I am avoiding going to bed. I'm tired and my bed is really comfortable. I had a longer day then expected today, too. And yet, here I am, blogging.
I've decided that one of the things I want to do on my blog is discuss things I have read or heard. This might be drawn from non-fiction or fiction, religious or social. It might come from a song or a conversation I had with a friend. I don't want to write tripe. I want there to be some meat to my blogging. Otherwise, I feel boring. Since most people I know forget I have a blog (except Lyndsey and Dan), I feel I owe it to them to make it a little more interesting. I want to develop eleoquence with my words and the only way to do that is to discuss bigger things rather than my mundane life. We will see how this goes.

I Love My Computer

I know, I know, my title is funny. But, seeing as this is my first time back on my computer for over 6 weeks, I think I need to appreciate my computer. My power cord went out on my laptop and when I finally got around to taking it into Best Buy, it had already been a couple of weeks. I had to order the part (they didn't have it at the store) and they told me that they would mail me a label to send the old one back, which could take up to 1 week. They then told me that it would take another 3 weeks to process it once they got the old part back. Well, three weeks have passed and no mailing label. My cousin's husband decided to have a go at it and he fixed it! Hooray and thank you, Christian!


Things have changed a lot for me.

My job has improved greatly and I am enjoying it now.

My cousin and roommate got married and I am living on my own.

I am going to be in a Bible Study starting next week.

I've had the chance to go to the mountains several times this summer. I took a ton of pictures! I will have to post a few of my favorites later on.

I had to get all new tires on my car, which cost a pretty penny (actually pretty dollars).

I have a new puff quilt for my bedroom that my mom made for me (THANKS MARMEE!). It came with pillow shams, curtains, and a new cover for my vanity chair. It is very beautiful. I hope to paint my room to match my new bedroom accessories.

My garden has been beautiful this year and I have enjoyed it immensely. I am becoming very drawn to gardening, although I am still very much a novice. I am looking forward to the new things I can plant next year. My herbs did so well and I have enough dried basil and oregano to last me a couple of years.

My friend from college, Sara, came out to visit me for a couple of days. It was great getting to see her.

I think those are the main highlights that I can talk about right now. I know I will have more things to share as things develop.



One of the things I am doing now is reading a book called Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul. It has a guided journal that I am also doing. So far, it is interesting, but I haven't gotten very far. The journal takes some time to complete, so I am not reading the next chapter until I finish the corresponding section in the journal. I will post any interesting things I learn.

It's good to be back.

Calming Down

AHHHHH! Finally, things are calming down for me with my job. A situation that has been a thorn in my side for several months is now beginning to dissipate. I'm beginning to like my job again. I still have so much to do, but at least it seems manageable and not overwhelming. At least I don't feel like I am working in mental health again or that I am doing constant triage work.
I am looking forward to a couple of things this month. First, two of my best girl's and I are going to the spa to get pampered. I have never done this before and I am looking forward to spending some time with my friends. Second, my best friend from college is coming out towards the end of the month. We haven't seen each other for a very long time. It will be great to catch up and spend some time together.
Things have been busy around here at home with my roommate preparing to get married. We have been shopping, invitation addressing, and shower planning. Plus, I am preparing to not having a roommate again. I have a year to decide what I want to do. Do I want to get another roommate? Do I want to become a host home provider for someone with a developmental disability? I am not really sure. I really need to start considering where I want to go with thing because if I put it off, a year will be gone and I won't be ready.
Well, I guess that is all for now. It's nice to blog and not feel like I am whining or griping about something. It's nice to talk about the good things in life. :) There really are a lot of good things in life, it's just the few negative obscure the view sometimes.