Why I write
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I've been having some conversations lately with others who are involved in special needs ministry around the country. Many of these folks have been at it longer than I have, and I feel undeserving of the seat they've offered me at the table.
As I engage in these conversations, I've realized that I've never written here about why I write here.
One answer is that I'm a writer. I've been writing and posting pictures of my family at our personal blog for a few years. I was "published" for the first time in third grade when my life's work of poetry won a school contest. It was bound with a coil spine and made available for reading in our elementary school library. I was ecstatic. Since then, I've written whenever I could - drafting poems instead of taking notes in high school chem and writing for every purpose and outlet I could: for the paper in middle school and high school and a bit in college, for my children in journals I'll give them when they're older, for income for a couple publications, for the training new special educators for Teach For America, and sometimes for no specific reason other than to sculpt with words. So the first answer to why I write this blog is simply this: I'm a writer. Therefore, I write.
But why write about special needs ministry? Part of the answer to that question is that I love ministering with people with special needs. And when I need to figure something out, sometimes I just need to talk it out. Many posts come from my need for me to "talk" (or, rather, blog) it out.
But it's more than that. As I began digging into books and websites and organizations, I realized something. When I worked with Teach For America, we talked about developing mindsets, knowledge, and skills. I found that many of the available special needs ministry resources are focused on skills or, to a lesser degree, knowledge. Most of what I found skipped over the mindset piece,as if to say "if you're reading this, then you agree with me already, so let's dive into how to do it." To me, the mindset is the most crucial piece. If ministry leaders have the right mindset, then they can partner with secular organizations to make up for deficits in knowledge and skills. While my writing here does tips its toes into knowledge and skills too, I want to be mindset-oriented.
The main reason why many churches don't welcome people with special needs isn't a matter of too few resources or too little knowledge or too much apathy. It's too little Jesus in our ministry. We can learn all the knowledge about disabilities and develop all the skills necessary for including each person but still miss the heart of what we're doing: the Gospel.
I write because I love the church, and I want to see her fulfill the purpose intended for her. The church was never intended to be just a building where we gather; it's a body of believers whose heart beats singularly for the glory of God. When we exclude or excise part of that body, then the church becomes less than what it would have been.
As I engage in these conversations, I've realized that I've never written here about why I write here.
One answer is that I'm a writer. I've been writing and posting pictures of my family at our personal blog for a few years. I was "published" for the first time in third grade when my life's work of poetry won a school contest. It was bound with a coil spine and made available for reading in our elementary school library. I was ecstatic. Since then, I've written whenever I could - drafting poems instead of taking notes in high school chem and writing for every purpose and outlet I could: for the paper in middle school and high school and a bit in college, for my children in journals I'll give them when they're older, for income for a couple publications, for the training new special educators for Teach For America, and sometimes for no specific reason other than to sculpt with words. So the first answer to why I write this blog is simply this: I'm a writer. Therefore, I write.
But why write about special needs ministry? Part of the answer to that question is that I love ministering with people with special needs. And when I need to figure something out, sometimes I just need to talk it out. Many posts come from my need for me to "talk" (or, rather, blog) it out.
But it's more than that. As I began digging into books and websites and organizations, I realized something. When I worked with Teach For America, we talked about developing mindsets, knowledge, and skills. I found that many of the available special needs ministry resources are focused on skills or, to a lesser degree, knowledge. Most of what I found skipped over the mindset piece,as if to say "if you're reading this, then you agree with me already, so let's dive into how to do it." To me, the mindset is the most crucial piece. If ministry leaders have the right mindset, then they can partner with secular organizations to make up for deficits in knowledge and skills. While my writing here does tips its toes into knowledge and skills too, I want to be mindset-oriented.
The main reason why many churches don't welcome people with special needs isn't a matter of too few resources or too little knowledge or too much apathy. It's too little Jesus in our ministry. We can learn all the knowledge about disabilities and develop all the skills necessary for including each person but still miss the heart of what we're doing: the Gospel.
I write because I love the church, and I want to see her fulfill the purpose intended for her. The church was never intended to be just a building where we gather; it's a body of believers whose heart beats singularly for the glory of God. When we exclude or excise part of that body, then the church becomes less than what it would have been.