Have you signed up for the FREE Inclusion Fusion disability ministry webconference yet?

If not, here's another good reason.



And here's the post about my sessions, and the link to register FOR FREE. It starts TOMORROW.

because I serve in disability ministry, I know

That the “emergency” button on the elevator just calls to the front desk, not straight to any emergency departments. (I do understand the button has to be low in case someone falls, but still. Not easy when we have fast kiddos who love buttons and are working on impulse control.)

That disability is mentioned in 40 of the 66 books of the Bible.

That our team consists of amazing volunteers who I hadn’t met until I began coordinating our ministry and probably wouldn’t have met otherwise – for each of them, I am blessed.

That carpet cleaner isn’t easy to find in the church, especially right after a child vomits.

That you can’t trust the quality of walkie talkies that no one has used at the church in more than a year. They won’t work.

That even when the walkie talkies work, I’ll forget I have one and choose to text or yell down the hall, much to our intern’s disapproval. (Sorry, Kelsey!)

That we don’t have outlet covers in some of our classroom. (Working on that one!)

That God’s design for each person is good and glorious, even when it isn’t always clear to us.

That one South Park episode is about the exclusion of Timmy, who I think is supposed to have cerebral palsy, from the church. (If you're wondering, it's season 4, episode 9, titled "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?")

That our elementary children’s ministry director is a better shot than any of our team’s pastors, if I recall correctly. (Yes, our last family discipleship team summit included guns. We’re in the South. It happens.)

That there are other folks around the country who are just as passionate about this as I am.

That there are more churches who haven’t yet realized that their church is inaccessible to many adults and families.

That God is moving within his body in great ways.

To tap into the knowledge of some of those other folks who are just as passionate as I am, join me for the Inclusion Fusion websummit on special needs ministry, starting TOMORROW. Register and check out the speakers and find out when you can join us for live chats and learn about the Twitter chat by clicking on any of those links!

disability ministry round-up {10-31-11}

As one raised in the Lutheran denomination, I must begin with this: Happy Reformation Day! On this day in 1517, Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg.

And Happy Halloween! If you have little ones (or if you're a big one getting decked out) and celebrate, I would love to know your costumes. With my present health issues, I am keeping it low-key for me this year, but Robbie is a dinosaur and Jocelyn is a butterfly. And, in very exciting news, my knee is healing well enough that I've been cleared to accompany the crew trick-or-treating!

On that note, though, here's a great article from Jo Ashline: Why holidays are different for this special needs mom.

I love what Joni & Friends does here in the US, but I am even more encouraged by their missions trips overseas, like this one in which mobility and communication were provided for a precious child named Genecis.

Yesterday was Disability Sunday for most Anglican churches in Sydney, Australia. Read about it here.

In this story from ChosenFamilies.org, Joan tells how the story of Lazarus' death gave her permission to cry.

This article from the SC Baptist Convention is a great reminder that disability ministry isn't limited to children: Ministry opportunities exist to special needs adults in South Carolina

Churches and ministries paving the way for the rest of us in special needs inclusion:

• one offering a workshop called "Viewing Mental Illness through the Eyes of Faith" led by a professor from Baylor
• one that aided in the search for a missing nine-year-old boy with autism
• one beginning a series of mental health lectures 
• one with a sewing group making weighted blankets for kids with autism

And, finally, here's the speaker list for the Inclusion Fusion websummit on special needs ministry - THIS THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY! Check out the speakers and topics here, and register here.

one another (on Dinglefest and here on TWOGD)

You'll find today's post - about giving and receiving from one another - on my personal blog, Dinglefest.

And, as I consider receiving from others, I'm thinking about doing some redesign work here on The Works Of God Displayed. So I would love to receive some help from YOU:  

What do you like? What doesn't work for you? What would you change? When you think of blogs that just look good, what is it that you like about them?

The blog renovation won't be happening right away, because I do my own design and because I like to think it over for a while before I dive in. I might make small tweaks or tackle a complete overhaul; I'm not sure. But I would love your feedback now so that I can start thinking about it and redesigning in my mind.

Thanks!

one another

I'm not going to lie: it's been a rough and wild week. This time last week I was at the park celebrating sweet Leiana's third birthday, and a couple friends asked if I was nervous about surgery the next day. I said no, that God had given me peace and an attitude of praise, because getting in for surgery this early was a magnificent answer to prayer.

I am glad God had me resting in his perfect peace before surgery, because I had to cling to it with desperation in the past week.

The pain was more intense than I expected. The swelling was more widespread than I anticipated. And the lack of mobility was more extensive than I imagined. And I certainly didn't expect Robbie to have a bad case of croup on Saturday night.

But the outpouring of love and prayers and meals and childcare and ministry leadership from friends held me up, in the way that Aaron and Hur upheld Moses' hands in Exodus 17. And I did something different this time around than I have in previous health crises:

I.
Accepted.
Help.

I don't do that well, y'all. It's been one of the greatest challenges to my faith because I don't like having to rely on or trust anyone but myself. Even God. I could psychoanalyze myself to explain where that came from, but I already paid good money to do that in counseling the year before Lee and I got married so we don't need to go there.

When I had c. diff and had to crawl from my bed to the bathroom because I was so sick, I wouldn't let Lee carry me. And when Norma called to check in and offer to bring a couple of things during that time, she had to verbally strongarm me into accepting help. Other friends - during that trial and others - offered help, and I did my best to graciously rebuff them.

I secretly liked the set-up of my old Sunday school class' meal sign-ups because no one asked if I needed help. If they did, I wouldn't have accepted. They just provided meals - first, when I had back surgery, and later when each of the kiddos was born.

(To be honest, I did - in a postpartum freak-out as I realized we weren't getting meals the first week after Robbie was born - practically accost the gal coordinating them to beg for a meal that week because I couldn't see straight in the midst of the hormones. And I don't think I've ever apologized for that. Caitlin, I am sorry I was such a jerky basket-case that week, and thank you for helping to coordinate meals for us anyway.)

My point is this: (wait, did I have a point? Oh, yes, now I remember...) God didn't design us as islands made of flesh. The Bible is filled with one anothers. I'll be pulling some of my next memory verses from this webpage listing a plethora of those one another verses, like:

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34)

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. (Romans 12:10)

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19)

 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24)

 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings. (Romans 16:16)

 (Don't worry. I'm not planning on planting any holy kisses on anyone but Lee.)

It has occurred to me this week that I've only thought about one side of these verses: the exhortation to do for the one anothers in my midst. There's another side that I didn't realize until this week: the need to receive from others. On other words, the need to - on occasion - be the one another.

(You can go through old posts to check if you'd like, but I'm pretty sure that paragraph wins the prize for most uses of "other/another" in less than four sentences in Dinglefestland.)

If no one listens, there's no point in sharing songs and psalms and spiritual songs. If no one is willing to move toward good deeds, there would be no point in spur one another on. If no one is willing to receive the acts fueled by devotion to one another, then that devotion would dry up.

We each need to be willing to give to one another and receive from one another for it to work.

Thanks, sweet friends, for giving to me this week with your prayers, comments, messages, calls, meals, gifts, and love. We are thankful, and God has used you to teach me much.