I am on week 11 out of 16 in my course on "Beyond Suffering."  To say it has made an impact on my life is an understatement.  I truly will be a different person as a result of this course.

I don't know that the course has changed my thinking, rather it has enhanced it.  I believe the same things but with greater conviction.  I desire the same things but with greater passion.  I am humbled just as I was before, but with more tangible grace.

More than ever I believe that every person is created in the image of God, without exception.  I believe that people affected with disability need to be welcomed, assimilated, nurtured, and valued in the community of Christ.  I believe that God can reveal His power through our weaknesses.  I believe that we are called to not only welcome those with disabilities into the church, but we are called to actively seek them out, find them, and bring them into the church.

With greater passion, I desire for every child in a classroom to be valued, to be given a platform to tell others about God, and to reach their greatest potential.  With greater passion I desire for the family portrait of the church to be a mixture of races, cultures, backgrounds, and abilities to name a few.

I am humbled because I realize how much I don't know, how much I limit others, and how much I have to learn from every person that crosses my path.  It is only through God's grace that we can make a difference in the world.  It is through God's grace that we see our own limitations and the power of God that can be shown through them.