Negative to Positive

It has been a long time since I have been on here. Today I just felt the urge to write something. It's almost as if God wants me to write some words of inspiration to someone. In these past few months I have had a multitude of bad things happen to me. It's been really hard for me to find a way to verbalize what has happened and explain my feelings. Therefore I thought I might utilize a method that will allow me to use the right words.

On September 2nd 2011 I was supposed to spend the day with my Grandpa Reed since my mother and Aunt Martha had gone up to Indianapolis to visit my Aunt Cheryl who was dying from an infection she contracted in the middle of her Cancer. Luckily, I had the opportunity to share a few kind words and laughs with my grandpa over the phone that morning. When I arrived at his house and walked through the back door I found him laying on the kitchen floor. My instinct at the time was not to panic and follow through with the procedure I had learned through my CPR training at work. I dialed 911 and performed CPR since there was no pulse. When the EMTs arrived, he was pronounced dead. My heart was broken terribly and still has been broken ever since. This has been the darkest day of my life so far and I will never forget it and will always have the image in my head of what I saw when I walked through that back door. This man was like a father to me and I will always miss him.

Two days later we received a phone call from a friend of the family who was up in Indianapolis visiting my aunt saying that she had passed away. Even though we were already anticipating for it to happen, we still had a rough time dealing with it because we already lost one family member whom we loved very much. This woman was a great mother, daughter, sister, and aunt. She was always there for her familyI really enjoyed spending time with her. If it had not been for her pushing me to do certain things like joining the church worship team, singing in the choir, or actively participating in other ministries within the church I would not have been where I am today. Hopefully her husband and her sons cared about her ten times as much as I did because she deserved a lot of love and respect. I was really sad that she had to suffer through so much pain for so long, but I am now happy for her because she will no longer suffer through any pain.

I feel like my healing has begun, but I am still in a lot of pain right now. My family has been split up due to disagreements over my grandpa's land causing my mother to break down, I have been in two accidents that happened within eight days of each other, and I am worried about how the holidays are going to go this year. With this weight bearing down on my shoulders I have been overwhelmed with grief. I have really been wanting to talk to my grandpa because he would know what to say in a situation like this, but i can't. It really makes me sad that he is not physically able to be there for my mom or I. I just want this year to be over because I want to forget all these things and move on.

Even though I have been suffering a lot lately there are several positive notes that I can make. First, I know that I am not alone in this. There are many more people out there in this world who have suffered through similar or worse situations than I have. This is my opportunity to present the stories of the situations that I have been through, speak about how God has been with me through it all, and tell the world of His great love for us. If you lost a loved one and feel like this is a punishment, it's not. God has called that person home. Second, If you allow Christ to come into your life and ask Him to forgive you of your sins, He will do wondrous things for you that are beyond your imagination. Your heart will be filled with so much love, compassion, and joy. Finally, he will bring you hope. Meaning that he will always provide for you. Who knows....... You may make it to Heaven and get to see your loved ones again. That's the hope that I have right now.

The other hope that I have is that I have inspired someone and that they will, at least, consider accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior. You will not regret it if you do. I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Please talk to me if you have any questions or comments about this post or if you would like for me to pray for you. I would be more than happy to make myself available for you. Thanks!

Your brother in Christ,

Joey

Here is an inspirational music video that I think goes along with my post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLHE4P-B2FA&ob=av2e

Funeral Letter

Dear friends, family, and members of the community,

It is with great joy and happiness that I tell you that my grandfather made it to heaven. When my pastor asked me to say something about him here at the funeral, I turned him down because I was still grieving over the loss and was afraid break out into tears on the pulpit in front of everyone. I miss him so much. I miss traveling with him, taking him out to eat, doing absolutely nothing, and listening to his advice about women or letting it go in one ear and out the other. J On the day after I began to collect my thoughts. I asked myself “Who am I to keep the information of his incredible life from others?”.

If you think about the way he lived his life, every single detail points to the way Christ commanded us to live our lives. One of the fondest memories I can think of is when he drove the church van for the youth and some of the elderly. This had a major influence in helping me discover the career path that God has chosen for me. It gave me the longing to one day be able to help the population of youth that my grandfather was already helping. My grandfather demonstrated the same kind of love to those youth that Christ gave to us. He did not sacrifice near as much as Christ did for us, but he did go above and beyond for many years making sure that people got to and from church.

Finally, he loved his family more than anything else of this world. Whenever we needed him, he was there to help, support, and pray for us. When I was in high school, he let my mother and I stay with him after we lost our house. Those were some of the most influential months that shaped me as a follower of Christ and as a human being. He taught me how to care for others, be respectful, and work hard for the things I want in life. I’ll never forget the three loving words he said to me everyday: “Get a job!” All in all, his ultimate goal was to make it to Heaven to be with our Savior, his wife, and now his daughter.

To my grandfather: This is not goodbye. I will see you when I get there.

Thanks everyone for all your love, prayers, and support!

Sincerely,

Joey

Our Time Is Now

This is a little poem I wrote that just came to me.

Our time is now

To stop the fighting, bullying, and abuse.

Our time is now

To look into the eyes of the children

And let him or her know that someone cares for them and loves them a lot.

Our time is now to feed them, clothe them, and bathe them.

Our time is now

To provide them with a quality education.

Our time is now

To stand up for them.

Our time is now

To teach them right from wrong.

Our time is now

To be there for them whenever they need us.

Our time is now

To become positive role models.

Our time is now

Not later and not never.

Our time is now

To be like Jesus in the eyes of our children.

Reflection of ADHD and LD

ADHD and LD gave me clear instruction on how to work with groups of kids that have learning disabilities. I barely knew that there were a variety of ways to make sure that students maintain their attention during class. As a residential counselor for St. Joseph Children’s Home I have a tough time keeping the kids from talking out loud, keeping their eyes on and not interrupting a staff member or peer while they have the floor, respecting one another, etc. during our group meetings where they are informed of the consequences or rewards for exhibiting certain behaviors. I feel motivated to utilize some of the techniques that I learned while watching this video. I was also impressed with the teaching strategies that were discussed. I already know what a VIP is and how to utilize one, but this video showed me that there is more to teaching special needs students than this technique alone. I am planning on teaching a class on social issues where I am employed as part of my assignment for another course that I am taking this semester. Therefore, I am thankful that I had the opportunity to watch this video. Now I have knowledge of some different techniques I can incorporate into the project.

Cultural Groups

Even though the predominant ethnic group in the area I live in is Caucasian American, there are a multitude of other groups that come in small amounts. In Harrison County up to 5.7% of the population are black and African American. Up to 0.6% are American Indian and Alaskan natives. 1.6% of the residents are Asian. Last, but not least, a handful of the population is made up of Hispanics and Latinos. The percentage is unknown, but they are prevalent in the county. This data was provided by the Census Bureau website.
In order to teach the kids I work with the values, traditions, and beliefs of those cultural groups, I would first start familiarizing them with stereotypes that we make towards certain people that are different from them. When teaching children about different cultures, you are basically teaching them how people in other countries live their lives. The first thing they would have to understand is that most countries speak a different language than we do or they speak English, but in a different dialect or accent. Next, we all have different likes and dislikes. For instance, Americans like to put a lot of sugar in their desserts whereas Hispanics tend to not utilize as much.
Another matter to discuss is that there are differences in how we value our education. Every country tends to educate its children at a different pace. In many countries, having an education is a privilege due to high levels of poverty throughout the world. Fortunately, in our country it is a law that every child attends school. One issue that I have come across constantly throughout my career as a student and continuously at my job is that we do not respect one another due to our differences. Stereotyping and name-calling is a constant problem that is prevalent all throughout our nation. I try to teach my kids that we all have feelings and many differences. If they do not respect one another they can trigger negative behavior from their peers and cause them to escalate. Therefore, we need to be careful about what we say to one another and not say things that come across as offensive.

Reflection of "The Teachings of Jon"

Sometimes we make the wrong assumptions about families that live with a child or person with special needs. We think that those particular families live in turmoil. The documentary that we watched in class called The Teachings of Jon show that their lives are the exact opposite of how people with “normal” lives would think. At first, his family members thought that raising a child with down syndrome would ruin their lives, but later found out that they were blessed to have a family member like Jon. It seems absurd to me that someone would even consider putting their child in an institution. If I were in a similar “situation” I would step up to the plate and accept the challenge. At first, they did not, but eventually did. They now live richer lives because of it.

Letter to Editor

Another assignment for special education class.

To whom it may concern:

It is phenomenal to see how people have been able to work together throughout time to assist those who are less fortunate than others. Your article U Highlights Students with Disabilites, which concerns the “Faces” campaign that was launched by the diasabilities services at the University of Minnesota, is very informative about the process and how it is helping the students that attend that university. After reading the article many would be convinced that the program would be very successful.

According to the information provided in the article, the campaign has benefited people with disabilities in many different ways. Unfortunately, there is one flaw that could come across as a major disadvantage for that campaign. Everyone needs to keep in mind that those who require more accommodations or more attention at school or college are just humans like the rest of us. We need to be careful about how we label people, even those with disabilities. This is something that many people are unaware of unless they are working or learning how to work with special needs students.

If we should not label people by what kind of disability they have, what race they are, what ethnic origin they have, then how should refer to them? It seems that the best thing to do is call them by their name. You stated that “people like Quinn have been able to overcome challenges that accompany their disabilities thanks to the University of Minnesota’s Disability Services”. Instead you should have said that Quinn has been able to overcome many challenges due to the opportunities that the campaign offers to its students. In the future, it would be better for you to become more empathetic towards people and the dilemmas they are facing. It is my hope that in the future you will be more considerate towards your interviewees and those involved in the topic you wish to address.

Sincerely,

Joey Whitman