Different, not less

The title is a quote from the made for TV movie, Temple Grandin.  I picked it up at the library after seeing part of the Academy Awards.  There was a woman hugging the star of the movie.  Later, I found out that was the woman the movie was about.  The woman wore a cowboy type shirt.  The moment seemed a little different than what is normally shown on those award shows. The movie won quite a few awards.

My daughter watched it first and said it was good.  I later watched it with her.  I agree.  Through the movie and some further looking around on her website, etc., I discovered Ms. Grandin is autistic.  However, she is also a strong visual thinker and.....a PhD.  She thinks in pictures.  She was picked on mercilessly in school.  One of the things she would tell people is she was different, not less.  This is definitely true of Autism and other mental differences, but also for anyone.  We are each different from each other, but no one should be made to feel any less worthy than someone else.

I have the pleasure of serving on the parent advisory committee (PAC) for special education from our school district.  Many people don't even know there is such a thing.  I didn't.  I have learned a lot about special education....and the children they serve.  There are many misconceptions regarding special education and the children it is meant to serve. Pictures of the short bus or seperate classrooms may have flashed across your mind just from the mention of special ed.

As a parent, it is intimidating to go to a meeting where there are many school people there that seem to know more about your child than you do because of tests they have done.  Teachers and staff usually have numerous meetings in a day where it can be easy to forget that each parent needs to hear the same spiel they gave the last parents.   There is almost always an attempt to "mainstream" the special ed student.  This can be a good thing, however, it seems that we are trying to make that child conform to the "normal" way of thinking instead of learning more about how he/she learns best.  Sometimes it is just realizing that they may need to have things slowed down some to keep up.  It is difficult to watch children struggle or get picked on for something they cannot change.

I went to a conference that was aimed more at teachers, but also applied to parents.  There is an incredible number of hoops and reporting requirements that special ed teachers have to jump through.  I gained a whole new respect for the staff at our school and all schools.

If you have a special needs child or are a concerned parent, I urge you to remember that they may be different.  However, they deserve no less than our best when we work things out with school, home or trying to hit the ever  moving target of  "normal".  Normal is overrated. 

1  Corinthians 12:14  (The Message) I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together.

Becoming Hardboiled

I readily admit that I am not a good cook.  Sure, I can make the general easy stuff (most days) and I LOVE the George Foreman grill.....but I digress.  I love eggs by themselves or in other dishes.  The following should be read like Bubba from Forest Gump when talking about shrimp. 

poached, fried, scrambled, sunny side up, quiche, egg salad, deviled (could use a better name, but oh so tasty), boiled.....

Ahhh boiled.  Not that long ago I wanted hard boiled eggs.  Maybe it was awhile ago because I didn't "Google" it.  I actually looked it up in Cooking For Dummies how long to boil.  BUT there must be other people who don't know or why would they have it in there?  (no need to answer, smile)

I started thinking about eggs because lately I've felt like one.  Fragile on the outside and ready to crack anytime and who wants to deal with that oozy mess?  However, I've come to realize though that not all eggs are as fragile as they appear.

** Eggs are usually sold in quantities.  Not just one.  They are usually nestled in their little egg carton cocoons with at least 11 other little eggs.
LESSON:  Surround yourself with other good eggs. 


** Eggs are adaptable.  They can stand alone or easily blend into recipes (think cake, yum). 
LESSON:  Learn to adapt to the situation around you.  It might not be pleasant, but it might help make you into something better than you are by yourself.

** Eggs are permeable.  Things can pass through the egg shell.  My daughter did a science experiment with an egg in vinegar (the shell came off, but yolk was still in the rubberized result) and then various substances. Food color changed the color of the egg!
LESSON:  Even if your shell comes off, you can still hold it together if soaked in the right substance.

** Hard boiled eggs only become hard boiled after being placed in boiling hot water.  When done, they look pretty much the same on the outside, but something has changed on the inside.  The shell still may crack easily, but the oozy mess is gone. Instead is a firm egg ready for whatever comes next.
LESSON:  The egg doesn't get to say what it wants to become or how it is going to be accomplished.  It's up to the cook.

Do you feel like you are in hot water right now?  The temperature steadily rising?  You are stronger than you look.  Even if your shell breaks or becomes slightly cracked, YOU may be on your way to being made into something you were not even aware was possible.  Eggsactly my point.
  

John 16:33 (NIV) “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Molehills and Mountains

Soon and very soon....Spring will be here.  Spring brings bright skies, leaves on the trees, green grass....and molehills.  Little (or bigger) mounds of dirt that show the little buggers are underground digging their tunnels.  The hills are the visual signs of the work beneath the surface.  Per Wikipedia: They (molehills) are often the only sign to indicate the presence of the animal.

I find that interesting.  We know moles are there.  However we don't always think about them....until they get busy and we see the results of their work.  Sounds like someone else I know!  As SNL's Dana Carvey's church lady used to say, "Oh I don't know boys and girls....S A T A N? 

Moles like the dark.  The devil does his best work in the dark.  Moles dig and dig and love the dirt.  The devil digs up whatever he can use against us to try and get us to focus on the mess he's making.  If we focus on the mess, we don't continue to move toward the mountain.  We can stomp on molehills.  We were given the authority to stomp on the devil. (Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”) 

In our lives though?  Molehills know no season.  They will pop up at the most inopportune moments.  Sometimes we can get so busy taking care of the molehills, we forget we were on our way to the mountain.  Pray and stomp (think Whack-A-Mole!), but DON'T STOP!

Psalm 121:1-3 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? ² My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. ³ He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber

God /Jesus do a lot of work on mountains.  God met with Moses on a mountain. (Exodus 19)  He passed by Elijah on a mountain. (1st Kings 19)  Jesus taught the people.  He went up the mountain to rest and pray.

When you start heading to the mountain, you can be sure that the molehills will start to pop up.  The molehills will attempt to keep you occupied and busy so you don't continue the journey.  You might get weary trying to stomp the molehills and give up the journey. 

However, PRESS ON and climb!!!  God promises that when we seek....we find.  (Matthew 7)

Micah 4:1 In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills,and peoples will stream to it.

Moving in Another Direction....Opposite Way

Does your life ever feel like the wheel in a hamster cage?  Hop on in the AM, knock yourself out...running, running only to spin in circles.  Busy, but not going anywhere.  When finally getting out of the wheel - other than being dizzy....not much got accomplished.  The focus was on the task at hand....not getting anywhere.

Gas prices, unrest in other nations, gay marriage, gays in the military, unions, politics, being asked to pay more for health insurance, abortion.  None of these are small issues.  Some are literally, life and death.  These (and other) issues are consuming a lot of attention, time and money lately.  It seems we fight little battles and ignore the war.  Or maybe another visual, putting out small fires when there is a raging forest fire behind us.


credit to Africa: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1803


As the world continues to move faster and faster, people who seek absolute truth are going to become rarer. If you are one of those people, you may feel like this picture.

This does not mean you should give up.  You have a choice to make.  You either stand alone....or you work at being a light in a dark world, continue to pray for others to do the same and start moving in the opposite direction.

I heard a song recently on the radio.  It was by Leeland.  It is titled "The Opposite Way".   The music is beautiful, but the words are even better.  The video this girl (hannahsdreams) made is an awesome reminder that sometimes we need to be broken to move in the direction God wants us.  We may run (or swim) in a different direction than today's world.  We are never alone.  There is One who has gone this opposite way before us.


Philippians 3:12-21 (NIV)
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.


15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Rebel Without a.....Clue

Hubby and I picked up a VHS copy of Rebel Without A Cause recently. VHS because he was worried DVD would be wide-screen, which he is not particularly fond of. I just happened to read off the title because we were looking around in a store. Of course, he wanted to see it because there's a Mercury in it. We started watching it earlier this evening. I have seen bits and pieces of the movie over the years, but I don't recall ever seeing the whole movie. We didn't make it through the whole thing yet, but the parts I have watched have given me much to think about.

Mainly, how does a movie from over 50 years ago (1955) capture many of the same things I dealt with (sometimes still do!) in the 80's and teens still deal with in 2011? The feelings of trying to make friends and fit in, getting their minds to catch up with their bodies, parents, bullies, etc. There was one comment by James Dean's character about fitting in and making friends and I said I thought only girls felt that way. Hubby said oh no, guys go through that too...and there's usually a fight involved in it somewhere along the way.

I would think as each generation moves from teen to adult that we would have eased some of these by now. Maybe as adults we're just so glad to have made it through the teen years that we forget what it's like by the time our kids become teens. We were told to pretty much suck it up and trudge on through and maybe we expect the same from our kids. It seems like it ends up being "us" against "them". Aren't we on the same side? If not, shouldn't we be?

I do not know how the title was intended. I would like to find out more about that sometime. However, I looked up rebel just to see what the dictionary stated:

1:opposing or taking arms against a government or ruler 2:disobedient, rebellious

Society kind of puts parents opposing teens or teens opposing adults and that, generally, teens are disobedient and rebellious.

In the movie, it seems outside influences and internal conflicts are making the main characters "rebels".

I look forward to watching the rest of the movie to see how it plays out. In the meantime, I would urge parents and teens to watch this movie together. Stop it as necessary or discuss afterward. Yes, some of the acting is a little over dramatic, the students dress up (gasp) for school and the hairstyles and clothes are dated. However, the themes throughout the movie show that we're all kind of moving through life finding our own causes when sometimes they are right in front of us...or even living in our own house.

1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV) Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.