Not Exaggerating

I've recommended a million kinds of resources to a thousand different people, for a hundred-and-one reasons. I understand that everyone has different tastes and different needs. Not every book appeals to everyone.

So I carefully hold myself back from saying, "You've got to read this book."

Back in April, 2010, thousands of women attended Beth Moore's simulcast So Long, Insecurity (You've Been a Bad Friend to Us). I attended with several friends, and we found it a life-changing experience.

Well.

I'm now reading Beth's book by the same title, So Long, Insecurity, and I'm finding it even more life-changing.

So I'm writing to say....

Every woman has got to read this book.

Nearly every woman I know deals with insecurity to some degree, in some area or another. And it's a handicap to all of us.

Right?

In this book,

you'll hear Beth Moore ringing your bell,

     singing your song, and,

          maybe, even telling your story.

Directly and indirectly, in this book Beth tells the stories of women everywhere.

The good news is, the book doesn't stop at identifying our insecurity. It gives us the comfort of knowing we're not alone, that insecurity is common to the human condition, and....

It helps us overcome the insecurity-handicap and learn to live free!

So...

If you're a woman of any age,
and maybe if you're not... but you love a woman or a girl of any age...

I'm not exaggerating when I say...

You've got to read this book!

So Long, Insecurity (You've Been a Bad Friend to Us) by Beth Moore, published by Tyndale House. www.solonginsecurity.com.

After you read it, please write and tell me how it changed your life, too.

-- Reenie

#2

Children Hear What We Need to Tell Them

When we in faith communities welcome children who have special needs, those children, too, get to be taught the principles of our faith.

We believe that all our children should be taught, so we must teach children with special needs, as well as kids who are typically-developing and healthy.

In Christian faith communities, that means children get to hear that God planned them, designed them, and made them with a purpose that is broader and greater than anything they’ll ever imagine.

They get to hear that God loves them so powerfully He longs to be their Best Friend.

Like other children, children with special needs will hear that their lives have value, that the struggles and obstacles they face are not the end.

They hear that, whatever challenges they walk through in this life, they’ll never be alone. Jesus will walk with them through everything, giving courage and strength to overcome each hurdle, and to live with joy each day.

And they hear that, despite all their challenges, despite their limitations and maybe even because of them, God can and will work through them to make a positive impact on their world.

Typically-developing children need to hear all of that.
Children with special needs need to hear it, too.

Let’s be intentional about welcoming them all... and let's tell them with all our might.

Next Up -- What Other Kids See When We're Not Showing Them

10 Great Things

More and more churches are discovering that great things happen when they become intentional about welcoming people with special needs and other challenges.

This series describes some of those “great things”, focusing on what happens when churches welcome children with special needs.

#1          Parents Get a Break!

The greatest need for most parents of children with special needs is a break.

Specialized babysitters are not exactly plentiful, even when families can afford them after paying for medical bills, expensive therapies or costly equipment.

But when a child with a severe disability is loved and cared for at his church’s children’s programs, his parents get a physical break.

Welcoming children to church can also give parents a mental break. Every parent of a child with special needs is prepared to advocate for their child everywhere they go – school, hospital, swimming lessons, dancing classes, the neighborhood playground – yes, everywhere. Parents know their child will miss out if they don’t -- and sometimes even when they do.

But when the people in a church become intentional about welcoming children with special needs, the parents of those kids can heave a great sigh of relief...because there's one place where they don’t have to fight on behalf of their child.

Parents also receive an emotional break when a church welcomes their children. They get what every parent secretly wants: to know that someone else loves their child, too.

For married parents, a church’s care for their child can give them a relational break. We all know the divorce statistics: 50% of marriages end that way. But did you know that figure increases to 75% or more when the family includes a child with special needs? Something as simple as giving couples a few minutes’ free time to talk face-to-face or worship together can make the difference between relational survival and marital break-down.
-- Reenie

Next up... Children Hear What We Need to Tell Them

If Feet Could Talk

“I’m not a caregiver.”

That’s what my cousin says when I jump onto my soap-box and talk about how the Church should welcome people with special needs.
My cousin can’t see himself as a Sunday School buddy to a child with autism. Actually, I can’t see it either.
But this cousin is my Go-To Guy in any computer crisis, and has been ever since I acquired my first computer 9 years ago. By taking care of my computer issues, he enables me to write to encourage you, and to develop curriculum and program materials for people with special needs.

In less than ten seconds, I think of a dozen people who take care of me and my stuff in other ways.
Recently, my Fix-it Brother** fixed my watch and my shredder.
My massage therapist regularly works on my neck and shoulders, relieving me of stiffness and pain.
And there’s a hundred others...

I hope you can quickly think of a bunch of people who help you, too.

One of my favourite Bible chapters compares our gifts and limitations to the parts of a human body.
“The body is not made up of one part but of many.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?
If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of hearing be?
God has arranged the parts in the body just as he wanted them to be.
The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’
And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’” (1 Corinthians 12:14-21)

None of us is complete on our own, but we're complete when we serve each other.
How glad I am God figured that out before I did!

**Fix-it Brother describes his primary occupation. You can guess how my younger brother, Build-it Brother, makes his living. Truth be told, though – Fix-it Bro is mighty good at building, and Build-it Bro is very handy at fixing. I wish I had an ounce of the fixing or building skills either of them has in his baby finger. Which brings us full-circle...