{"id":3463,"date":"2013-07-15T11:17:25","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T15:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=3463"},"modified":"2014-12-29T10:38:42","modified_gmt":"2014-12-29T15:38:42","slug":"the-first-points-of-light-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2013\/07\/the-first-points-of-light-award.html","title":{"rendered":"The First Points of Light Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Points<\/a>When President George H. W. Bush gave the first Points of Lights Awards, one of them went to a NASA employee named Frank S. Howard who was a volunteer for The Special Gathering<\/a> of Indian River.<\/p>\n

\"fshoward\"<\/a>
Frank S. Howard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fact that Frank S. Howard<\/a> was my husband and I am the area director for The Special Gathering of Indian River, I’ve felt a close connection to the organization. \u00a0As President Obama and the Bush family celebrate this fine organization, I cannot help but remember the surprise and joy we shared when the award was given.<\/p>\n

Frank Howard was an Technological Scientist at NASA. \u00a0He had five inventions to his credit and many awards, including Kennedy Space Center Employee of the Year. \u00a0Frank Howard was a Bible teacher for The Special Gathering. \u00a0He loved and supported this population and he felt it was an honor to teach the members of his class.<\/p>\n

The Special Gathering is a ministry within the mentally challenged community. \u00a0Our mission is the evangelization and discipleship of mentally challenged (intellectually disabled) \u00a0individuals. \u00a0There are seven programs dotting the East Coast from Florida to South Carolina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When President George H. W. Bush gave the first Points of Lights Awards, one of them went to a NASA employee named Frank S. Howard who was a volunteer for The Special Gathering of Indian River. The fact that Frank S. Howard was my husband and I am the area director for The Special Gathering…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,371,186,49,16,8,668,4],"tags":[690,21,688,696,7,699,742,715,701,691,694,709,689,757,687,700],"class_list":["post-3463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-frank-s-howard","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-points-of-light","category-simple-truths","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-frank-s-howard","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-inspirational","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-leadership","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-points-of-light","tag-simple-truths","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nThe First Points of Light Award - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2013\/07\/the-first-points-of-light-award.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The First Points of Light Award - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When President George H. W. Bush gave the first Points of Lights Awards, one of them went to a NASA employee named Frank S. Howard who was a volunteer for The Special Gathering of Indian River. The fact that Frank S. Howard was my husband and I am the area director for The Special Gathering…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2013\/07\/the-first-points-of-light-award.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-15T15:17:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-12-29T15:38:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2013\/07\/Points-of-light-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The First Points of Light Award - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2013\/07\/the-first-points-of-light-award.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The First Points of Light Award - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"When President George H. W. Bush gave the first Points of Lights Awards, one of them went to a NASA employee named Frank S. Howard who was a volunteer for The Special Gathering of Indian River. The fact that Frank S. 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