September 10th - Special Needs Ministry Training

We will be leading a Special Needs Ministry Training on September 10th at Hill Country Bible Church NW.  We would love to have you attend.  Please be sure to make reservations!

Special Needs Ministry Training Part II:  Austin, Texas
September 10, 2011

8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

"Advocacy vs. Influence:"  Sometimes we need to step in and advocate for adults and children affected by a challenge and sometimes it is time to stop advocating and focus on influencing a culture.  Join us for a one hour session on learning the difference.

B.U.D.D.Y. II:  This course will give you resources for structuring your ministry in terms of administration, leadership and volunteer development.  In addition we will cover the growing diagnosis of Autism, how it impacts behavior and how to love and understand those challenged by it.  We will also discuss strategies for classroom management and behavior modification.
 
     The cost per training day is $25 for a continental breakfast, lunch and materials.  Unfortunately, we are unable to provide childcare at this time.

     For reservations and questions contact Bill and Deana Boggess by posting on this blog or E-mail sntraining@hcbc.com or theboggi@aim.com.  We look forward to hearing from you.

You Won't Want to Miss This!

     Jessica Cox is an inspiration!  It is amazing to see what she has done with her life.  Watch some of the clips and interviews.  She will help you realize all the things you thought you couldn't do just might be possible!

    (Please look for clips powered by YouTube on the sidebar)

Writing From Your Passion

     Over the last year God has started introducing me to new friends that love to write professionally or journal from their experience about their passion.  They have all been a blessing to me as I have read about their journeys.
   
     For my writing friends here are a couple of quotes that have been meaningful:

     "What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers."
     Logan Pearsal Smith "All Trivia," Afterthoughts 1931

     "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."
     William Wordsworth

     If you haven't tried writing about your passions and the "breathings of your heart," give it a shot today.  You never know the impact it could make.  Send me a few paragraphs about "Overcoming Obstacles."

It Is a New Day

     Well, thanks to my wonderful husband I am back in business.  After four trips to the Apple Store (they have been incredibly helpful) the computer is up and running again.  I am connected with all my favorite people again and have 80% of my book recovered.  I just lost the last five chapters I wrote which is a bummer but I did pray that God would let me know in some way if I needed to change what I wrote.  I guess He has something else in mind!
     It will be a busy and wonderful week.  My daughter, son-in-law and grandson will be home from Costa Rica tomorrow.  I have missed them terribly!  I will start teaching on Thursday and will start writing as soon as possible.  It is a new day!

I Think It Is Time To Go To Bed

It has been an interesting week. Fifteen nearby houses burned this week due to the drought, the battery died in one car, the other car is in the shop and the third one doesn't have air-conditioning. My brother has gone to the hospital twice this week due to complications from his chemo treatment, my mother-in-law is slipping farther and farther away from her dementia and tonight the hard drive on our computer crashed with the book I have been writing on it. It is one of those days were you just go to bed grateful that you have a roof over your head, your family is around you, and tomorrow is another day.

Humility

     From my experience, if I had to label the years from age 40 to 50, I would call them "The Reality Years."  By this time you have made a lot of choices, chased a few dreams, and have laid a foundation for your life.  Then the storms of life start to come.  For some reason we are often shocked by them and wonder why they are only happening to us.  As I approach 50, I have learned to expect the unexpected.  I have learned that no one is exempt from the storms of life, and I have also prayed to have humility in the midst of it.
     In Proverbs 11:2 it says, "Be humble."  To quote Andrew Murray, "The truest form of strength lies in humility.  Here is a good definition of what it means to be humble, 'Humility is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing done to us, to feel nothing against us.  It is to be at rest when nobody praises us and when we are blamed and despised.  It is to have a blessed place in the Lord where we can go and shut the door and kneel to our Father in secret, and be at peace when all around is trouble.'"
     In the last month I have encountered friends suffering from physical illness, mental illness, financial difficulties, divorce and loss of a loved one.  Tonight I was reading the book Integrity by Dr. Henry Cloud and was struck by the following passage, "People feel cared about, and trust is built, when they know that we have a genuine interest in knowing them, knowing about them, and having what we know matter."
     In the midst of a troubled world, may we grow in humility as we face our own struggles and grow in grace as we see the struggles of others.

Ryan

     Every year I look forward to the parade of little people that will enter my classroom.  As we meet each other I only know a few facts about them and they only know that I look like a grandma and I teach in "The Castle Room."
     A few years ago a student walked into my classroom and captured my heart within moments.  He was small in stature but had a huge heart in that tiny little body!  He blessed me and taught me so much that year.
     Ryan made me face one of my challenges.  I had a very hard time hearing him so I wore hearing aides the whole year (it helps when your husband is an Audiologist!).  I am so glad I did because I wouldn't want to have missed a thing he said!
     As I shared earlier, I teach a unit on "How to Be a Friend to Someone With a Disability" by Joni Eareckson Tada.  During the month the children in my classroom earn money to send to Joni to refurbish a wheelchair for a child in another country that needs one.  That particular year, the money was coming in rather slowly.  I wondered if the kids were not understanding and if the unit was meaningful to them.  We moved on to our next unit and the kids and I prayed for the rest of the money.
     Over the next couple of weeks Ryan shared with me that he was going to have a garage sale.  Each day he would mention someone knew that had donated something.  I really didn't think that much about it.  Looking back on it,  Ryan was so excited and I wish that I had slowed down to pay more attention.
     The morning of his garage sale, God woke me up.  I jumped out of bed and told my husband Bill to wake up because we needed to go to a garage sale.  I had an address and a subdivision but no map (for some reason I thought I could just find it).  We drove around for awhile and ended up stopping at their neighborhood center to look at a map.
     When we finally arrived at Ryan's house it was 10:30 a.m..  The garage door was closed and there wasn't a sale in sight.
     As soon as I rang the doorbell I heard someone yell, "Mrs. Boggess is here!   Mrs. Boggess is here!"                        When Ryan came to the door I asked him if he was still having a garage sale.  He told me that he did have one but they had finished.
     I said, "Well, do you have anything left?  I would like to buy something."
     Ryan immediately ran out the door and opened the garage door.  There were all kinds of things on the floor.  It looked like a garage sale that a 5 year-old had set up.  He had told me earlier in the week that he made some paintings for the garage sale so I asked him if there were any left.  Ryan showed me a couple and I fell in love with one and asked him if I could buy it.  He said, "Yes" and I asked him how much it was.  He told me it would cost 10 cents.
    I said, "Oh no, I think at least $5."
     I turned to Bill and asked him if he had a five and as he pulled out a ten he said that was all he had.  I handed Ryan the ten dollar bill and he started to put it in his money bag and said,
     "There is no change."
     I started laughing and said that was fine.  I looked at his bag full of money and asked him what he was going to do with it.
     Ryan, looked up at me with such sincerity and said, "It is for the wheelchair, Mrs. Boggess, it is for the wheelchair!"
     I started to cry and thanked him over and over again.  What an incredible moment I will never forget! It had not occurred to me that it was for the wheelchair and here he was continually thinking about it.  He raised more than enough money to send to Joni and her ministry.   His beautiful painting still hangs in my classroom to this day.

Caregiver Course

Dear Friends,

I haven't actually attended this training but thought it might be helpful.  It is an "educational program designed to help family caregivers (no professional caregivers, please).  This program will help you take care of yourself while caring for a relative or friend.  You will benefit from this class whether you are helping a parent, spouse, friends, someone who lives at home, in a nursing home, or across the country."

If you are interested, please call Community Ministry Office at 892-2433.  The cost is $10.  Everyone must sign up as there is limited space.  The class series meets once a week for six weeks.

Dates:  Wednesdays:  September 7, 14, 21, 28 and October 5 and 12
Time:  10:30 a.m. 0 12:00 p.m.
Location:  St. Catherine of Sienna Church
4800 Convict Hill Road
Austin, Texas 78749

Space is limited so register by August 29, 2011
Contact:  Esther Quintanilla 892-2433

Barbara

Dear Barbara,

I remember when I first met you I was touched by how kind you were and how well you took care of  your family. You always took care of everyone else first and served your mother and your aunt for years as they struggled with health issues.

In those early days,  I thought you had a simple life and a very small world.  You only completed 9th grade, you married at 15 and had your first child at 16.  You lived in the same house for almost 50 years.  You shopped at the same grocery store.  You didn't put gas in the car, but let your husband do that.  You prepared a drink for your husband every night so he could relax while you made dinner.  You didn't worry about what was going on in the world but you did follow soaps and "The Inquirer."  That was my perception of you, Barbara, for so many years.  I loved you for the person I thought you were but now I love you even more because I know more about how challenging your life really was.

You have encouraged me as a wife.  I never quite made it to your level, since I don't cook breakfast and oftentimes I don't cook dinner.  I also know that I have been a little fiesty as a wife and I am sure that has frustrated you at times but you have loved me regardless.  In addition, you have given me great advice as a mom.  I will never forget the times you said, "I could handle any stage my children went through as long as they don't get stuck in one!"  How true that is!

Over the years, I learned how big your world really was though and how incredibly strong you are.  You have faced so many difficult times in your life, Mom.  Your childhood was difficult, your first child died way too young, you lost your husband in a tragic car accident and a few years ago lost one of your sons.  You are one of the strongest people I have ever been around.  You hold onto faith and your family no matter how tough the trial is.

Over the last 5 years, we have had some amazing times together.  We have strung a lot of beads, had some fabulous dinners together and lots of laughs.  As your dementia started to progress you would often get sad about the changes you were seeing but you always had the ability to laugh about it.  As you had to make changes in your life by letting go of the car, the finances,  your beloved dogs, Muffin and Murphy, and your independence, you took it all in stride.  I knew it was killing you on the inside but you never complained.

I will never forget the day we were at the "Dollar Store" and I asked you to wait by the door while I pulled up the car so you wouldn't have to get out in the 100 degree heat.  As I pulled up I saw you get in the wrong car and sit on a young gentleman's lap.  At first you were a little shocked and stunned but you quickly started laughing and we laughed about that for years afterward.

Today I sit with you in the dementia unit holding your hand and telling you that everything will be ok.  You don't know who I am anymore.  You cannot retrieve words and everything is jumbled up in your mind but you know what Mom, you are still as sweet and kind as ever.  You shared with me today that you feel trapped and I can understand why.  I grieve for you every time I see you.  I wish that I could put your mind back together but I know God will do that for you someday.  I love you, Mom, and will continue to hold your hand.  You are an amazing lady and I consider it a privilege to be able to serve you.  Thank you for sharing your son with me all these years, for accepting me into your family and for loving on my children and grandchildren.

I love you, Mom.

Yeah, team!

It was a great day today.  I met with three other churches in Austin and "Joni and Friends" to share ideas regarding special needs ministry.  It is always exciting to come together to encourage one another.  God is moving in the city of Austin!

Ask and You Shall Receive

     Every March I teach a month long unit on "How to Be a Friend to Someone With a Disability" to my 5 year-old "Bridge" class.  I base the unit on Joni Eareckson Tada's curriculum.  It is always the climax of the year and such a blessing to watch.  The purpose of the unit is to dispel children's fears, answer their questions and help them realize that we all have abilities and disabilities and God can use them in powerful ways.
     For 5 years I borrowed a wheelchair for a month so that the "line leader" in my class could ride in it.  Inevitably the first one or two line leaders choose not to take a ride.  They didn't feel comfortable and to some degree, were afraid of it.  Usually by the third or fourth child I have a willing participant and before long they are all anxious to ride and "pop wheelies" down the hallway to lunch.  
     As the years went by It was getting harder to borrow a wheelchair so last summer I secretly started praying that God would provide me with a child's wheelchair.  It would be more comfortable for my friends and I would be able to use it whenever I needed to.  I knew I had a lot of contacts and would probably be able to get a wheelchair, however, I knew I would worry I was using a wheelchair that a child might need.  I told God that if He brought me one I would know it was His gift to me and was free to use.  
     I prayed all summer long that God would bring me one if I should have it.  Then early in the year I was sitting at "Circle Time" reading to my students and I heard a knock at the door.  I looked up and it was the gentleman that repairs the copier for our school.  I motioned for him to come in.  He smiled at me and said, "I have a child's wheelchair and I heard you might want one."  My jaw dropped and I said, "Are you kidding me?  Yes, yes I would love to have one!"
     It was a great start to the year and exciting to tell the children about God's provision.  Every time I look at it, it makes me smile because I remember how God provided.