1 John 3:18 I pray that I will always live out His word!



National Disabilities Employment Awareness Month
October

It has been quite a while since I shared with you.  I am so thankful today.  I discovered this morning upon arriving to work that I had placed myself in an unsafe situation yesterday during work.  That is never fun to discover.  I work with individuals of all socioeconomic status groups and with varying disabilities and varying backgrounds.  I do my best to judge each situation but some of the individuals who I work with have had very, very difficult lives and many still do.  I thank God for His protection every day of my life.  I sometimes have to use humor to lighten the moment and keep my eye on the Lord to remain filled with strength.  I am however one person who will go the extra mile for my clients, whenever I can.  If you did not now I work with individuals who have disabilities or impediments to employment.  When I lived in Concord, I had a caseload that was primarily adults with physical disabilities, back fusion, para or quadriplegia, history of stroke or heart attack, amputations, etc....  Now I have a caseload with high school seniors and adults with developmental disabilities.  Let me back up and tell you of my first experience with individuals with developmental disabilities.  I was in college,  going for my undergrad degree and my roommate worked in a group home and told me of an open position at the facility in the town I lived in.  I went for the interview.  I was taken on a tour after the interview and met several of the children who were between infancy and 12 years of age.  When I left I got into my car and I cried and cried all of the way home.  I told my roommate that I could never do that job I would just feel to sorry for those poor children who had no life.  She said to me... Amy, I know you and I know your heart and you can do this job.  You will be great at it.  I didn't believe her but I needed the money and it was full time plus would allow for my school schedule and my other 2 part time jobs so I accepted the position.  I began to work there and every day I got to know those precious children better.  My heart grew bigger and bigger and I realized that those sweet little creations of our Lord were just like other children.  Some were deaf, some were mute, some knew sign language, some had tracheotomies and could only breath with a ventilator, some were severely intellectually disabled but every one had their own sweet, adorable, and precious personality.  We used to sing, and rock, and play and I learned so much about them.  More importantly I learned so much about myself.  Eventually I had to leave that job to do my internship and then I graduated and went to work at the facility for older children and adults in another town, then I worked in early intervention where I worked with the entire families of a infants 0-3 with a disability.  What a blessing that was to go into their homes and help their parents understand their development and what I had learned myself through experience at the facility.  Now, I work with High school seniors and adults.   Some have learning disabilities and you or I would never know that there was anything not typical about them. Some have mild, moderate, and severe intellectual disabilities, some are in wheel chairs, some have Downs Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy.  Some have children and some have legal guardians to help them make their decisions.  Every one of them has a desire to fit into their place in this world....  I have to remember that I can not flip the world upside down in one swoop and make things right for them but one day at a time I can do what ever I can to honor God and work toward helping my clients find success.  My success on paper is shown by up to date paperwork and achievement of goals and numbers.   My success in my heart is knowing that I did all I could do and realized that it was enough.  It may not make their lives perfect but they will always know how much I care.  I often become frustrated at the decisions that some of my clients allow to corrupt their futures and I become frustrated with some of their families who do not appear to care, but then I remember that I am not living their life.  I did not go through the difficulties and pain that they may have.  I do not feel the ridicule or disdain of others when I enter a room.  I have been blessed with a healthy body, ability to learn and a passion and love for Jesus Christ.  So rather than giving up on them I will continue to care.  I will continue to give more chances.  I will continue to shine God's light.  I will continue to pray over their files and their lives, and I will continue to seek the individual plans that will allow them to find success through work.  When they do not achieve work for long enough to call it successful and I close the case I will remember that I gave them my all and that I can not control their decisions or unchangeable factors.  I will also remember that the person I meet with at 10:00 has nothing to do with the person who did not show for their 9:00 appointment.  I can not begrudge one client for another one's lack of drive.  All individuals have strengths, both strengths that they know that they have and others that they do not even realize that they have!  We can focus on their strengths and not their limitations and then we know what kind of job they can do best!  It is a wonderful feeling to know that an individual who though he or she would never have a place in the working world is able to get up and go to work and feel success.  I know I can not make it happen for every individual especially if they are not ready to put forth extreme amounts of effort but how wonderful when we can be a team with an open employer and see a goal achieved!   October is National Disabilities Employment Awareness month and at the end of this federal fiscal year and ready to start a new one. I promise to do God honoring work in the next year.I will do all I can to lift up my clients and help them make better decisions even when times are so very difficult. 

This is not at all what I planned to blog when I sat down but God placed my clients and all individuals with disabilities on my heart tonight!