Weekly round-up! {7/18/11}
/
Our family ministry team is meeting this morning (all staff and a few key volunteers from babies through high school). I love all of the individuals who will be at our table, and I am grateful for and humbled by the opportunity to serve with them. And I am thankful for my sweet friend Kelsey, who will be a senior in high school next year and who is doing an amazing job as our Access Ministry intern...and who will be taking care of my two little ones this morning so I can be at the meeting.
Now on to the links...
From the Today show, here's a list of the best travel spots for families with special needs.
Amy shares some great forms for kids with gluten-free needs here. These would be good for churches or parents.
This blog by a different Amy - who is a homeschooling momma of two, one with Down syndrome - isn't new to me, but it might be to you. Here are two great posts from her about special needs ministry: The Church and Individuals with Special Needs and Ministry Alongside People with Special Needs.
In this raw and vulnerable article, Two Minutes to Eternity, Marshall Shelby wrestles with why God allowed his son to live only two minutes (due to Trisomy 13) and why his daughter - who had an intellectual disability - died at age two, not long after his son's birth and death. As you can imagine, this is not an easy read, but it is hopeful too.
A few easy reads, though, are these about churches who get it: a church-based summer camp program of Familiesof Autism/Asperger’s Care, Educate and Support (FACES) in Georgia, a church who welcomed a child with autism and OCD and allowed her momma to be present and encouraged in the worship service, and the story of a woman who has been teaching first-graders at her church's Sunday school for the past 59 years - and counting! - and who welcomes kids with special needs into her classes (best line of the week, from a parent of a child with autism, about this Sunday school teacher: I asked if I could stay in class with him, and she said, "Of course, you can.").
Also, Abby Hamilton did a great job with Fellowship Bible Church's first luau for adults with disabilities. Oh, yeah, and she's 15. (I think if we could get her and Kelsey in a room, they might be able to take over the world.)
A few posts from the past week about struggles facing families who include a member with special needs:
The National Down Syndrome Society has a comprehensive page on just about anything you'd like to know about Down syndrome.
I've never read this blog before, but I love the bullet points near the end of this post: A Culture of Generosity.
While the title of this post is 10 Simple Things Good Pastors Say, it applies to any ministry leader. Or any parent, for that matter.
And this post isn't specific to special needs ministry, but Emily at Chatting at the Sky consistently captures beauty with her words and camera. This post is about the futures that God knit each of us together for (including, of course, kids with special needs).
Now on to the links...
From the Today show, here's a list of the best travel spots for families with special needs.
Amy shares some great forms for kids with gluten-free needs here. These would be good for churches or parents.
This blog by a different Amy - who is a homeschooling momma of two, one with Down syndrome - isn't new to me, but it might be to you. Here are two great posts from her about special needs ministry: The Church and Individuals with Special Needs and Ministry Alongside People with Special Needs.
In this raw and vulnerable article, Two Minutes to Eternity, Marshall Shelby wrestles with why God allowed his son to live only two minutes (due to Trisomy 13) and why his daughter - who had an intellectual disability - died at age two, not long after his son's birth and death. As you can imagine, this is not an easy read, but it is hopeful too.
A few easy reads, though, are these about churches who get it: a church-based summer camp program of Familiesof Autism/Asperger’s Care, Educate and Support (FACES) in Georgia, a church who welcomed a child with autism and OCD and allowed her momma to be present and encouraged in the worship service, and the story of a woman who has been teaching first-graders at her church's Sunday school for the past 59 years - and counting! - and who welcomes kids with special needs into her classes (best line of the week, from a parent of a child with autism, about this Sunday school teacher: I asked if I could stay in class with him, and she said, "Of course, you can.").
Also, Abby Hamilton did a great job with Fellowship Bible Church's first luau for adults with disabilities. Oh, yeah, and she's 15. (I think if we could get her and Kelsey in a room, they might be able to take over the world.)
A few posts from the past week about struggles facing families who include a member with special needs:
- Terri from about.com on being excluded from the Harry Potter mainstream
- Jen from Living life, with a side of autism on what is and isn't normal for sibling rivalry when one child has autism
- Life as a Sick Mommy by Living Auto Immune
- Anna from Our Life with Juvenile Arthritis about life every day, all day for her son and their family because of JRA
- Why Have Respite? Part 1 and Part 2
- Ideas & Tips to Create An Inclusive Environment (which I'll be using to help with our church's guidebook for special needs ministry...which will be available here free once I'm done with it!)
The National Down Syndrome Society has a comprehensive page on just about anything you'd like to know about Down syndrome.
I've never read this blog before, but I love the bullet points near the end of this post: A Culture of Generosity.
While the title of this post is 10 Simple Things Good Pastors Say, it applies to any ministry leader. Or any parent, for that matter.
And this post isn't specific to special needs ministry, but Emily at Chatting at the Sky consistently captures beauty with her words and camera. This post is about the futures that God knit each of us together for (including, of course, kids with special needs).