Priceless

I am one of the most blessed men that I have ever known.....seriously!! I have an absolutely amazing wife. I still can't believe she chose me out of all the guys in the world! She continuously teaches me new things and I have seen God do magnificent things through her. I want to brag on my wife a little :-) Recently, she became certified to teach students with visual impairments. I am so proud of her, she was a woman on a mission and she got it done. God worked in her life and led her to a certain purpose and she accepted it, embraced it and owns it! When she was first starting this endeavor she was applying to get into a program and wrote the following as part of the application process...I am using it with her permisson!

Nine years ago I was a fourth grade teacher. I loved my students….I had worked my way through school and LOVED my career. And then I found out I was expecting. Thrilled is probably an understatement to describe our long awaited babies coming! Our firstborn arrived in April and she was delightful. We were concerned about how her eyes bounced, but our pediatrician assured us that was “normal for some babies.” I would try to get her to track objects, lights, or even to convince myself she was looking at me as I fed her, but I wasn’t convinced. We had no reason to believe she couldn’t see, no family history to fear, but we were sure there was a problem. I finally convinced our Pediatrician to do a more thorough exam when Allison was 4 months old. She didn’t finish the exam and she left the room without a word. I worried that the doctor had gotten sick. Instead she was on the phone getting us worked in for an emergency appointment with an ophthalmologist. She never told us why we were going. The Ophthalmologist told us that afternoon that our daughter was cortically blind. He said that she was living in darkness, and that we needed to adjust our expectations accordingly.
That day changed our lives. We spent several months visiting different doctors searching for answers. We got in contact with ECI, and through them we met the Mansfield ISD Orientation & Mobility Specialist and the Teacher of the Visually Impaired. The support we received from our O & M was amazing. She was dependable, helpful and encouraging. There were weeks on end where she was the only person I spoke with that I thought had a clue about my life. They have worked with me to get my daughter where she is today- a third grader who was commended on her TAKS test.
I believe that as a VI Teacher I will be able to help my students and their families with the unique perspective I offer- of someone who has taught regular education as well as being a parent of a visually impaired student. I understand the classroom teacher’s perspective and I believe that this will benefit my students and their classroom teachers. I will be able to share the needs of my students to help them become independent learners as well. I also have a clearer idea than most of what the parents are thinking and need. I want to help other families by providing the kind of support and encouragement my family has received.
As a teacher I believe that all kids can learn and that it is my responsibility to see that learning takes place- even if I have to change my plans. Sometimes this meant delaying and re-teaching a concept. Some days this meant scrapping my plans and going back to basics that the students did not have, but needed to comprehend the concept. I played games, created songs, and used stickers instead of pencils. My goal was to help students love to learn and to create lifelong learners. With a blind child, I have learned that sometimes learning takes more conversation but the smile that occurs when they realize the solution is just as priceless.

Jill Smith

As I said earlier, I am soooo proud of my wife! Steve Jobs founder and CEO of Apple once said "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something..." My wife and I trust in God and it gives me great joy to know that through all of our experiences in having 2 blind children she has embraced the guidance and the purposes of God in her life! To God Be The Glory by Jesus Christ :-)

The Blind Blaming The Blind

Not too long ago I was just standing in my living room doing absolutely nothing. I don't know what I was thinking and I don't know what caused me to remain in that one spot for more than a few seconds. As I stood there I was about to witness an event that forever will be burned into the deep recesses of my mind. All of a sudden in an instant both of my children began walking quickly (for my children it was effectively a run) from the two opposite ends of the house toward the living room. Directly in front of me I saw them collide hard enough that both of them fell backward to the ground. Usually I would have reacted but I just stood there like I was in a paralysis. I watched the events unfold with a little smirk now creeping onto my face. Immediately after hitting the ground both of my blind children began raising themselves up and in perfect unison while scowling in the direction of the other said "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!!!" They were about to really get into it when I busted out in laughter and reminded them that they are both blind! It was at that point that I saw both of them stop and give that perplexing "Oh, I Forgot About That" look. By now my wife was in the room and she was laughing about as hard as I was!
A well known older pastor that I greatly admire always says "To Blame is to B-lame". Jesus talked about the blind leading the blind and I believe there is an awful lot of that happening! In America today it seems that in the political realm we have a lot of "The Blind Blaming The Blind" going on. I think this is an appropriate time to write this post! The President of the United States "State of the Union" speech was just given to the country. When you look at things that are taking place in our country so many still seem to be thinking in a partisan paradigm where one party is wrong or mostly wrong and the other is right or mostly right. It is time that we stop being blind blamers of the blind! We are all to blame and sin is everywhere!
I actually like the statement "Be the change you want to see in others"! It is time that everyone takes personal responsibility and begins changing. America's problem is not Political it is Spiritual. Christians from both parties are guilty of not standing against abortion. We are guilty of not standing against a culture of debt, not standing against homosexual marriage, not standing against compromise in what we allow ourselves to be entertained by. We are guilty of not standing against greed, prejudice and oppression. We are guilty of not standing against perpetuating government reliance and not standing against the manifold lies materialism and secular humanism! The list of our wrongs goes on and on for all sides! May God grant all his children repentance and give us grace to trust His righteous ways and live by them!

Disability or Challenge?

This is a great question concerning blindness and if nothing else one which deserves and requires sincere contemplation and thought. I recently came across this great essay by Kenneth Jernigan called "Blindness- A Left Handed Dissertation." Maybe it will help you come to a conclusion on whether you think blindness is a disability or a challenge but either way you will definitely have a greater awareness. It will open your eyes and show you that without realizing it society can really make things difficult for people who are not "normal". On a side note, I am including a pic of Allison! So proud of her for accepting the CHALLENGE and riding the bus to school everyday on her own! Way to Go Sweetheart!

Grasp

Not long after we came to the realization that Allison was blind I had a very long and good conversation with my next door neighbor about the situation. Jill and I have always seemed to be blessed with great neighbors. The Brown's were no exception. As Jack and I were talking one morning he said something that really struck and stuck with me! He said "what a blessing it will be to have the privilege of describing the world to your children, in large part they will see the world through your eyes". In reality this is true for all parents but for us it seems even more so. The responsibility of such a task was a little overwhelming to handle at the time. As years have passed I have thought about this over and over and asked myself, "How am I doing at describing the world to my children?" Some days I think I'm doing pretty well and then other days I think I am failing miserably! Where I usually fail is in describing the small and seemingly insignificant details. Like the fact that apples can be red and not just green. That when we say a person's eye is blue it doesn't mean the whole thing. If you want to understand what I am talking about there is a great write up done by a dad who has a much better grasp on describing details than I do for his blind daughter. The article is called "Dad, Where's the plunger?"


I just want to encourage all parents to remember the small stuff. So many times we assume our children are picking up on things we are trying to teach them or want them to know but yet we haven't verbalized it in detail to them. So many times I see Christian parents who have good expectations for their children but yet they have never stated those expectations to them. Somehow, they thought that their children would just magically pick them up along the way! I want to encourage you to help them grasp the specifics of what it means to live a Christ like life. Sometimes we are so focussed on the big picture, the end result, the goals, that we forget to talk about the little things! We go from A-Z and forget that there are important letters in between. Someone once told me "It's not the height of the mountain that will keep you from getting to the top, it's the little pebble in your shoe". My dad always used to tell me "Jon, if you take care of the little things the big things will take care of themselves". Make sure they aren't just seeing the big picture on the box but that they are grasping all the pieces that bring it together!

Thunder Dog

I really don't like that I do it but I do. There is no excuse! The truth is that I am guilty of giving in to a temptation that all parents face. It seems that I am guilty of being over-protective. Well, when you have two blind children one might justify the fact that they are so or even just plain deny it based on necessity of circumstances. NO, the truth is that I am over-protective. Over-protective is even, really, just a nice way of saying "controlling parent full of worry and anxiety, scared to death something might happen to their kid". Ok, now that that is off my chest let me tell you about a wonderful book.

The story of Michael Hingson and his guide dog Roselle and how they escaped from the 78th floor of the WTC on 9/11 is absolutely remarkable! You can check out an ad for the book called "Thunder Dog" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nRU4Rh2rBM
It is because of Michael's story that I decided to encourage my son and daughter to try riding a bike! Matthew absolutely loved it! Yes, a 5 year old blind boy learning to ride a bike.

I am so proud of my son and the courage that it takes to try. Don't gasp and think that I am throwing caution to the wind, I am not. I just refuse to be that person that limits my son from doing all that he can do or atleast trying. I am not going to disable him by my fear! He will get hurt and he will fall but I will be there (if at all possible) to help him back up. Thank you Michael Hingson!



"...Safety is from the Lord" Psalm 4:8
"...When I fall, I shall arise" Micah 7:8

Welcome to Holland!

This story has been a blessing to many people including myself. Just the other night I had a dream that my son and I were out at a park and I was passing a football to him and he was catching it and having a great time. Some things are difficult but this story is VERY encouraging!


I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......


When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Emily Perl Kingsley 1987

Matthew Chases Daddy

Matthew is blind and usually doesn't run very many places because he is afraid he will run into things and be injured. However, when he chases Daddy he knows it's safe! What if God's children learned this lesson? We walk (run) by faith and not by sight :-)

click below and check out the video

Matthew Chasing Daddy