Reaching For the Goal

     I have always been motivated by goals and I am always working on one.  I guess I get bored if I am not continually reaching for something higher and for a way to improve myself.  The more time pressure there is the harder I work.  The more I visualize reaching the goal, the more excited I am.
     Last night I had a parent meeting and talked about the unit I will be presenting on special needs.  As I was preparing by reading over my lesson plans, I thought about all of the powerful people I will be sharing with the kids and the amazing goals they have met in their lives, only with great challenges and opposition. I think of Tony Melendez who is a very talented guitarist with no arms.  I think of Joni Eareckson Tada who is president of an international ministry, travels the world, and speaks all around the world who is a quadriplegic.  I think of Helen Keller who was deaf and blind and the enormous impact she made on the world and history.  I think of my friend, Kim, who has become a poet and artist while battling seizures and autism.
     Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by my goals and feel like they are impossible to meet but then I think about one of the power people I mentioned and anything seems possible.  I think the real question to consider is, "Is God calling you to reach the goal?"  If He is, He will equip you.  It is that simple.

Reaching Out

Pastor Les Avery of my church many years ago closed the worship service by saying,  "Be good to yourself and kind to your neighbor. Know that almost everyone you meet carries a heavy load. If you scratch beneath the surface of almost any life you will encounter pain. It is there. Don't be afraid to put your arm around your own shoulder or that of a friend. Go now in the love of Jesus and celebrate."

We often say something that is hurtful because we simply don't understand someone else's situation.
This Valentine's Day reach out to someone that is hurting.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My Child

When people laugh,
they don't see the hurt;
But I do.
It's MY CHILD…


When people speak
such unkind words,
they don't see the pain;
But I do.
It's MY CHILD…


When people turn away
Because they don't understand,
I do.
It's MY CHILD…


So many tears,
so many broken hearts,
they don't feel;
But I do.
It's MY CHILD…


A simple smile,
just one kind word
could ease the hurt.
Oh, don't they see;
I do.
It's MY CHILD…


Please understand
My fervent plea;
Think before you speak.
It could be YOUR CHILD…

Written by Fran Sanzone

What I Wish People Knew About Kimberly

     I was blessed to be able to meet Kim about 15 years ago.  She is a very talented and beautiful young lady.  Her mom was gracious enough to share her story with me, along with her perspective, challenges and blessings along the way.

What I Wish People Knew About Kimberly

By Marilyn Dixon

     Kimberly Ruth--her name alone signifies the hope we had for the future of that beautiful little girl, born April 29, 1985.  “Kimberly” means “from the royal fortress meadow” and “Ruth” means “compassionate." We had visions of our daughter becoming important, but most of all, that she would have compassion for those less fortunate.  Little did we know as we thanked God for this precious gift of life on that day, that the road for teaching Kimberly and us compassion would be such a long and difficult one.

     Kimberly’s birth was non-traumatic.  We still remember the joy that we felt as we saw that our third child was a pretty red-headed girl.  She was born by c-section (due to the prior c-section of our second child).  Kimberly looked perfect.  In addition, her Apgar score was high--8.9.  Mom felt wonderful (under the circumstances), baby looked great, and all was well with the world.  As a result, we were sent home in only 3 days.

     Initially, Kimberly’s development was normal.  In fact, she gained some skills early.  She held her head up at two weeks of age and began rolling from her stomach to her back by four weeks.  She also began smiling at four weeks and laughed out loud at about thirteen weeks.  She was following objects with her eyes by six weeks of age and was reaching and grasping by four months.  She turned her head to follow sound at 7 weeks and even appeared to understand when we asked if she wanted to nurse (she would stop crying and her eyes would widen).  

     Kimberly was healthy for the most part of those first few months.  At about four months of age, she started having stomach problems which we and the doctor thought were colic symptoms.  However, when the problem continued for a month, the physician did some tests, and everything came back normal.  On October 3l, 1985, he gave her a physical exam and determined she was healthy enough to have her second DPT shot.  (She had her first DPT at seven weeks).  That evening, after having the DPT shot that morning, Kimberly passed out and turned gray.  We rushed her to the emergency room.  By the time the doctor saw her, she looked fine, and the x-rays he had done showed her lungs and heart to be normal.  In the days that followed, Kim became more listless, began having severe cramping spells, and appeared to stop progressing developmentally.  We were very concerned and took her to a developmental pediatrician who after examining her, referred us to a pediatric neurologist.  The pediatrician thought the cramping was due to constipation, but he was concerned about the developmental delays.

     After we described Kimberly’s symptoms to the neurologist, he told us he thought she had a rare form of epilepsy called infantile spasms. He handed us a booklet with one paragraph about the disorder and ordered the usual series of tests (EEG, Cat Scan, blood work, etc.) to confirm the diagnosis.  Once we knew the diagnosis, we were relieved in one way to finally know what was wrong with Kimberly, but were overwhelmed in another way as we thought of the future.  How could we give daily shots of ACTH prescribed at the time?  What is the outcome of this disorder?  Would Kimberly be retarded?  What if these seizures don’t stop?  What if we have to take care of her the rest of her life?  Worse yet, what if she dies?  The little paragraph in the booklet didn’t answer these questions, so we began to research and read everything we could get our hands on about epilepsy and, more specifically, infantile spasms.  What little we found about infantile spasms was not very optimistic, but the information we found helped us deal better with Kimberly’s diagnosis.

     Along with epileptic seizures and developmental delays, Kim’s brain injury from the shot also resulted in her having autistic symptoms.  Kim only said a few words in her early years and eventually stopped talking altogether.  She didn’t give good eye contact and especially in her younger years had some unusual behaviors common to autism like hand flapping, biting her hands, etc.  She also acted like she didn’t hear what was going on around her.  People meeting her for the first time thought she was hearing or visually impaired or retarded.  However, when she was 6 years old, I learned of a means of communication called Facilitated Communication.  After watching a program about it on Prime Time Live, I taught Kim how to type, and with assistance she has been typing her needs, wants, and thoughts ever since.  She writes beautiful poetry and has even had some published.  A little over 2 years ago, she started putting her poetry into artwork with a goal of publishing a book.  We are hoping to have the book ready for publishing this year.  

     The following poem shows Kimberly’s heart and deep love for God.  She has taught us so much about faith, perseverance, and courage.  

Searching for God

By Kimberly R. Dixon

                                                 As today comes to an end,

                                                 Quiet thoughts lift my spirits.

                                                 Gone are my worries and fears;

                                                 Hope and peace come instead.

                                                 Yet, groups of hidden ideas

                                                 Go through my active mind.

                                                 God speaks to my heart

                                                 And shows me His will.

                                                 All of my dreams

                                                 Leave me laughing inside.

                                                 Awesome visions of Jesus

                                                 Give my lonely self  peace.

                                                 When life’s days come to an end,

                                                 I’ll see sweet Jesus and give Him my deeds.

                                                 For each task that I do

                                                 Is only for Him.

     We don’t know what the future holds for Kimberly, but we know Who holds the future.  We are just so thankful that God has given Kimberly a means of communication, and we look forward to hearing what she has to teach all of us in the years ahead.  As her name entails, Kimberly Ruth, has already shown us how to be compassionate and what is truly important in life: that each of the tasks we do are only for Christ, the true Royal One.

A Sturdy Oak Tree

     Today we took another church through special needs ministry training.  Along with detailed training, we shared our passion, our journey, our lessons learned, our joys, and most of all, our love for children.

     As I listened to Bill speak today, I looked at a picture we had taken about twelve years ago at one of our respite evenings we called "Parents Night Out."  Bill had dark hair then and a few less "life lines" on his face, but the compassion and empathy in his voice is richer every time I hear him speak.  Bill reminds me of a sturdy oak tree.  It has weathered many storms, but it remains steady and strong and continually reaches out to provide shelter and shade for those that need it.

     I am so grateful that God not only blessed me with a wonderful ministry to serve in, but with a ministry partner that supports, sharpens and challenges me.  I am looking forward to the rest of the journey...