I Believe in Teachers Praying in School

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said:

'Let me see if I've got this right..
'You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.

'You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.

'You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.

'You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the final exams.

'You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.

'You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.

'You want me to do all this and then you tell me. . . I CAN'T PRAY?

Parents are key to Children's Health

Why, when we are in the middle of an epidemic of illnesses among children, do we at Sweeten Life Systems so strongly promote the health and welfare of the parents? What would you say is the reason? If you were a member of the SLS Board of Trustees would you agree with our priorities or vote to change them so we work exclusively on healing the kids? write and let me know your thoughts!

Gary Sweeten

Children with Special Needs

If you have been watching, listening and paying attention to what is happening in the world of medicine, health care, education, counseling and modern stress you probably already know what I am about to say. The Western World of Europe and the USA are in the midst of an epidemic. It is not an epidemic like the Black Plague that killed off some 1/3 of Europe or the Spanish Flu Epidemic that killed as many as 20 to 30 million mostly young men and women. No, the casualties are still living and the health care, interpersonal and family life costs are astronomical.

The current epidemic has to do with such things as Autism, Asthma, Anxiety, Depression, Learning Disabilities, Sensory Confusion, and so forth. It is estimated that Autism affected one in one thousand people at the turn of the 20 the century and now touches one in 100 children. This is an astronomical increase and so are so many other problems and sensitivities that children face, and none has a good diagnosis or treatment.

What can we who follow "The Great Physician" do to help these people? We could ignore the problems and when the families facing overwhelming problems stop attending our church move on to new potential members. In the research we recently completed as a result of a grant from The Hatton Foundation found, parents who have a child with special needs experience two things when it comes to spiritual support.

1. Their desire for spiritual support, insights and action go way up! These folks desperately want and need Christians to come to their assistance. They want prayer, teaching on how to pray for their child, someone to listen to them, practical help and so much more.

2. The availability of spiritual support falls dramatically. In fact, several of our parents indicated that they had not received a single Pastoral call since the birth of a child with special needs. Many churches may be interested in outreach, missions, justice and the other types of outreach but almost none do anything to help their own members who are in a crisis. Why reach out to people who are not interested and neglect those desperately wanting your fellowship?


If you want to understand what parents and their children want and need, go to the web for Sweeten Life and read about our upcoming Fall Family Gathering. Your life can be enriched by getting involved.

A Good Testimony

I love to hear testimonies of real people with real issues and a real God. Here is one I recently read in the online Journal of Philanthropy.

September 19, 2010
A Calif. Tech Entrepreneur and His Family Dig Deep to Live Out Religious Values

By Caroline Preston

Pomona, Calif.

When he got offered a job at the technology company EarthLink, Tom Hsieh hesitated.

Could he start early and leave at 3 p.m.?, he asked his would-be-bosses. They looked at him with bemusement. This was the mid-1990s, when working in high-tech often meant ordering in pizza and sleeping at the office. But Mr. Hsieh, who’d become committed to Christian ideals of serving the poor as a college student, explained that he needed to be home early so he could tutor neighborhood kids in

A Great Testimony

Over the past 40 years of ministry I have heard thousands of testimonies from preachers and writers. However, there is something much more powerful when that testimony comes from a person or family that gives the praise to god but the tanks to one of our ministries.

Such affirmation and thanksgiving is rare in the white conservative Christian community. The African American community is much better at offering thanks and at honoring their Christian leaders than my own tradition. I am not sure why but it may be a fear giving the people a "Big Head". I was once accused by a famous Bishop of "Making my people proud and causing them to sin" because I urged them to "Grow in grace and truth".

Have you ever tried to thank a Minister or Lay Leader and get this response? , "Oh, I did nothing at all. It was all God".This is a double bind for Christians because we are encouraged to give, serve, lead and witness, all of which bring a sense of well being and God's pleasure. Yet, if we enjoy God's pleasure too much we are warned that "Pride goes before a fall so refuse to accept any praise". That is as easy to do as standing on my head and stacking bee bee's. It cannot be done in this life.

So here is my counsel. Thank people for their ministry. Bless them and love them even if they act like they hate it. We really love that sort of thing and need it as well even if we are embarrassed and uncomfortable by hearing it.

Bless You!

A teacher in New York decided to honor each of her seniors in high school by telling them the difference they each made. She called each student to the front of the class, one at a time. First she told each of them how they had made a difference to her and the class. Then she presented each of them with a blue ribbon imprinted with gold letters, which read, "Who I Am Makes a Difference."
Afterwards the teacher decided to do a class project to see what kind of impact recognition would have on a community. She gave each of the students three more ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony. Then they were to follow up on the results, see who honored whom and report back to the class in about a week.

One of the boys in the class went to a junior executive in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning. He gave him a blue ribbon and put it on his shirt. Then he gave him two extra ribbons and said, "We're doing a class project on recognition, and we'd like you to go out, find somebody to honor, give them a blue ribbon, then give them the extra blue ribbon so they can acknowledge a third person to keep this acknowledgment ceremony going. Then please report back to me and tell me what happened."

Later that day the junior executive went in to see his boss, who had been noted, by the way, as being kind of a grouchy fellow. He sat his boss down and he told him that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius. The boss seemed very surprised. The junior executive asked him if he would accept the gift of the blue ribbon and would he give him permission to put it on him. His surprised boss said, "Well, sure." The junior executive took the blue ribbon and placed it right on his boss's jacket above his heart. As he gave him the last extra ribbon, he said, "Would you do me a favor? Would you take this extra ribbon and pass it on by honoring somebody else? The young boy who first gave me the ribbons is doing a project in school and we want to keep this recognition ceremony going and find out how it affects people."

That night the boss came home to his 14-year-old son and sat him down. He said, "The most incredible thing happened to me today. I was in my office and one of the junior executives came in and told me he admired me and gave me a blue ribbon for being a creative genius. Imagine. He thinks I'm a creative genius. Then he put this blue ribbon that says 'Who I Am Makes A Difference'" on my jacket above my heart. He gave me an extra ribbon and asked me to find somebody else to honor. As I was driving home tonight, I started thinking about whom I would honor with this ribbon and I thought about you. I want to honor you. My days are really hectic and when I come home I don't pay a lot of attention to you. Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good enough grades in school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just wanted to sit here and, well, just let you know that you do make a difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life. You're a great kid and I love you!"

The startled boy started to sob and sob, and he couldn't stop crying. His whole body shook. He looked up at his father and said through his tears, "Dad, earlier tonight I sat in my room and wrote a letter to you and Mom explaining why I had killed myself and asking you to forgive me. I was going to commit suicide tonight after you were asleep. I just didn’t think that you cared at all. The letter is upstairs. I don't think I need it after all." His father walked upstairs, and found a heartfelt letter full of anguish and pain.
The envelope was addressed, "Mom and Dad".

The boss went back to work a changed man. He was no longer a grouch but made sure to let all his employees know that they made a difference. The junior executive helped several other young people with career planning and never forgot to let them know that they made a difference in his life ... one being the boss's son. And the young boy and his classmates learned a valuable lesson. Who you are DOES make difference.

You are under no obligation to send this on to anyone ... not to one people or to one hundred. As far as I am concerned, you can move on to another page. But if you have anyone who means a lot to you, I encourage you to send him or her this message and let them know that they make a difference in your life. You never know what kind of difference a little encouragement can make to a person.

Spring Conference for Special Education

 

I am very excited to have been asked to present our research at the upcoming conference in March of 2011 for Christian Special Education Professionals. The conference speakers look very professional and highly qualified.

Our research is unique in the world of data, mass surveys and drug money from pharmaceutical companies. We did an in-depth survey plus person interview study in the homes of people with chronic problems. You can learn more about our study at the November 6 Fall Family Gathering at Christ's Church in Mason. Go to the Sweeten Life web for more information.

If you are interested in serving needy people, the ones who are often invisible to us, attend the November 6 Family Fall Gathering and talk with us. We will show you how your church can touch the loves of disabled kids and their families.