Some experiences in life stay with you. No matter how many other experiences you have in life, that one sticks in the back of your mind as a very special experience. Two years ago for just one day I was blessed to be able to help with our church’s His Kids Special Needs Day Camp. Around 20+ children from ages up to 25 came together to learn about Jesus and experience the love we, as Christians, have for them. I left there that day being blessed by their gentleness and joy. They did more for me that day than I could possibly have done for them.
Last year we were in Minnesota during the summer when they held His Kids Camp. This year, since we are home, I was able to help again.
The theme this year was SHINE. The area I worked with was crafts with Ashley and Alisa. Each child made four coasters which were four inch ceramic tiles with a shiny surface. We sprayed alcohol on each, wiped it down with cotton and then creatively dropped small drops of various colored special alcohol paint. When we dropped the paint on the tile it spread quickly and when the children blew on the paint with straws it created special shapes. I had fun making one before we started and could see the joy and pride in the children’s eyes when they created theirs!
Between some of the parents and caregivers being there, several of our church members and outside volunteers who work with special needs kids we had almost a one on one ratio so each child was given the attention they deserved. There were crafts, recreation, bible study, music time and group time. Sort of on the same order as a Vacation Bible School is set up.
Christie Williamson is the director of the camp and is a member of our church and most importantly she is my hairdresser (who of course knows all my secrets as all hair dressers do!) She works all throughout the year having periodic His Kids activity days and during the summer His Kids Day Camp for a week. I know she has a lot of help to make all this possible but she is amazingly creative and dedicated. Her son Lucas is a special needs young man and she’s been an inspiration to me in her dedication to making his life what he deserves it to be.
A lot of times we take for granted all the things our kids without special needs can do. My sons didn’t have physical special needs but were both in the special education programs at their schools. One was gifted, which has its own set of challenges, and the other had a learning disability which he only overcame through the special techniques used by his schools and us over the years. I’ve always thanked God for the special needs of my children since I know it brought me closer to both of them in their own way.
Again I got to spend one day there this summer and it was again a special experience! I wanted to share about it with you all so you can pass this along. Maybe invite someone to it next year or start one at your church. I can imagine it is an enormous undertaking though I know God will fulfill every need and lift you up to overcome any challenge.
After an outing to Cracker Barrel for dinner, toys and candy, we watched (our first time) the movie Frozen the other night with Madisyn. She filled us in on what was going to happen and who was who and all. Of course there was (as always) a bowl of ice cream in it for all of us. She doesn’t quite fit like she use to under her Paw Paw’s arm but always makes her way to sit right next to him during ice cream time!
Roy wanted to clean the RV engine since we had my brother in law George’s pressure washer. Since it is under our bed, the bed went up and he actually pressure washed it from inside the RV. I was not too positive that would have a good outcome but of course knowing Roy he was very careful and we got both a clean engine and no soggy bedroom!
Sadly, there were no house showings this week. Someone will want our beautiful pink house I just know it!
We had a fairly busy weekend doing family things (of course Madisyn was in on most of it!). We enjoyed BBQ with family Sunday after church, helping our son Chip move into his new home on Saturday, and purchasing a used riding lawnmower to cut our grass with. My work with RVillage is very slow right now so we realized we couldn’t afford the luxury of paying to have our lawn cut. Roy started searching Craigslist and we found one, just perfect for us! Of course it needed a few parts, some tinkering and a good cleaning but that’s Roy’s specialty! It will pay for itself in a month of cuttings and we’ll decide what to do with it when we sell the house! I really didn’t think we’d own a lawnmower again but it is true that we should never say never!
BECAUSE HE LIVES 