God Sends Comfort

My mother passed away last weekend, and her funeral is tomorrow in Houston. The grief of not being able to attend her services (I'm in Indiana, the funeral is in my hometown, Houston, TX) has palpable. Today, however, I opened an email devotional and read this beautiful prayer:

Dear God, You know my heart and my heartaches. You have showered me with blessings and carried me through the valley of pain and sadness. Thank you for the godly influence of special people in my life. Thank you for those who pray for and encourage me. I even thank you for the hard times and trials I have been through, for they have strengthened my faith. I praise you for giving me a spirit of hope, love, and acceptance, rather than allowing me to become angry, bitter, and downcast. I praise you God, from whom all blessings flow. May I, in return, be a blessing to you. In Jesus' name, amen. (from TGIF, Os Hillman, www.church growth.org)

Seemed to fit perfectly with my thoughts today. Love, Claudia

Friendship

ALS: From "my side of the fence" it doesn't seem that bad, when I take it one day at a time. I am just grateful that some people are willing to endure the pain and sorrow that is required to love me through this. So many get a glimpse of the ugliness and hurt of ALS and turn away to protect themselves. I don't take friendship for granted anymore. People who are my friends now have chosen to be my friends in spite of what it might cost THEM to do so.

If you're one of those friends, THANK YOU. Love, Claudia

Never Give Up

5 yrs ago I was diagnosed with ALS. The man I thought I loved said we'd "fight it together". Tonight he got married. I'm fighting ALS without him.

Never give up.

- Posted using BlogPress from my mobile device. Please pardon typos!

I Need Fuel

I follow a wonderful blog called “Enjoying The Small Things”  written by a phenomenal photographer, writer and mom, Kelle Hampton.  Kelle’s has two beautiful daughters, the youngest of whom has Down Syndrome. Kelle writes of daily activities and she does so in a way that never ceases to make me smile.  She’s definitely a “glass half-full” kinda girl!

Yesterday, Kelle wrote about fuel vs. filler in life.  I encourage you to read about it HERE. 

I’m sitting at my desk, sick with a URI, tallying up hundreds of dollars in medical bills and listening to the sound of my IV pump steadily humming as it infuses my liquid immunity (IVGG).  I need some fuel.  Any ideas?

Home School is Cool

This fall Christopher returned to public school.  I will be the first to tell you that I think that the faculty, staff and administrators we are dealing with are phenomenal.  They really are!  I am grateful for thier genuine care and concern and their talents and professionalism.  Even the bus driver is Heaven-sent! 

All that said, I will always be a fan of home schooling.  I know that it isn’t for everyone but in Christopher’s situation it was a God-send.

Recently we had a retired educator in our home.  They made no bones about how delighted they were to hear that Christopher is back in public school.  OK.  I’m delighted, too.  It was the right thing to do and the right time to do it.  What bothered me is that they went on to say that they had some home schooled students in their (high school level) classes and that those “home schooled students were socially retarded.”  They further mused, “They didn’t know how to not be the center of attention.” 

There were a couple of things that bugged me about these statements.  Beyond the use of the R-word, there is the fact that when push-comes-to-shove, the best most educators can do to discredit home schooling is to harp on home schooled kids’ social skills. 

It is a proven fact that home schooled kids do much, much better on average academically than their public school peers. [1] [2] 

Socially, home schooled kids are DIFFERENT, often BETTER and certainly not “retarded".  Home schooled kids may have no idea how to raise their hand to talk, or “line up with a buddy”.  They may not understand the ins and out of demerits, attendance policies and dress codes.  I would venture, however, that most home schooled kids are well-behaved, polite and articulate.  They are used to interacting with adults (ironically, they grow up to BE adults, interacting with other ADULTS!).  As for “being the center of attention”… that seems somewhat subjective.  I can see how it could be annoying for a teacher in a classroom with 25 students.  I’ll give them that, although I haven’t seen that among the home educated children that I know.

In my mind, it all comes down to one thing:  Does the education prepare the kids to go out into the world and be responsible, contributing members of society?  This should be the goal of public, private and home educators.  In my estimation, most home school parents do a fabulous job of meeting that goal.

Thankfully, the educators we are dealing with now are aware of the value of Christopher’s home schooling.  They know that we’re on the same team!

If you’re a public or private educator: Thank you for your service and dedication.  If you’re a home school parent: Rock on! 

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