A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith

We went to the beach early so the children could play a bit before the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour.  It was Monday morning.  The launch was scheduled for 9:23 AM.  On Tuesday the week before, Frank, my husband of 49 years had died.  Because of his commitment to Christ, we knew he…

Even though I don’t feel that old, I’ve not only lived through the last Ice Age but now I’ve also been able to navigate through the deadly specter of Global Warming.  However, all this has been replaced by another haunting danger, Climate Change. If you are old enough, you remember that there was an environmental…

Because many of our Special Gathering members were not able to attend the memorial service for one of their Bible teachers, we had a short memorial time at our Melbourne Special Gathering on Sunday morning.  Special Gathering members are mentally challenged adults.  The mission of our ministry is evangelism and discipleship.  We don’t do group…

For Sam, Cara and George, the large problem looming in their lives on Sunday was if I received their camp forms for the Memorial Day Weekend retreat that The Special Gathering holds each year.   Special Gathering is a  ministry within the mentally challenged (intellectually disabled) community.   For our members, this is an important four-day…

A gifted member writes poetry for Connecting Point, The Special Gathering monthly newsletter.  Here is one of her poems.  Miss Demeree was born with Down’s Syndrome.    Hope by Michelle Demeree  What does hope mean to me? I believe that in life,                                                                           we need to have                                                                                                                                                                    faith and hope.                                            A sick family member,                                                                          like…

By the time I was born, my father had started several successful businesses.  As a teenager, he was an ice man, selling ice to many people in his small town.  After he married my mother, he started a grocery store with a brother.  When misunderstanding threatened to ruin the relationship, he moved away from the…

I admit that there are some things that I do pretty well.  These are things at which I work hard to do as well as I can.  They are also things I enjoy.  My list seems to grow as I get older.  I enjoy writing, gardening, children, playing, teaching and administration. There are several things…

I direct two choirs as one of my tasks as area director of The Special Gathering, which is a ministry within the mentally challenged community. During one of our choir practices, I asked the choir to vote on which songs they would like to sing when we perform at a local church. We were currently…

Working and living within the intellectually disabled community, I found that there are many common bits of misinformation and urban legends that haunt our population.  These distortions diminish all of us.  Here are a few of the most common misunderstandings. They don’t understand insults or compliments. The fact is that they love compliments and completely…

In case we forget The Bible will still have all the answers in the middle of our joys and sorrows. Prayer will still be the most powerful thing on earth. The Holy Spirit will still move in the hearts and lives of men and women. God will still honor the praises of His children. There…

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