Encouragement: Beauty Queen "walks" the runway, despite having Cerebral Palsy

Okay,

For those of you who check my updated links, you may have noticed the one that I found about a beauty contestant having a disability. Well, I found more about the contestant in a recent article. For more information, you can view the article at:

http://jfactivist.typepad.com/jfactivist/2008/04/first-contestan.html

Grown-up girlfriends, part three.. Chapters 2

Okay,

So I know it's been awhile since my last "Grown-up Girlfriends" notes. I haven't really had time to read the book, let alone write notes from it. So much so that I'm afraid I have forgotten all of the lessons I have learned from it far. That being said, here are just some of my notes on chapter 2 and 3 of the book.

• What are characteristics of "Grown-Up Friendships"?
  


• People who encourage us to grow in our faith- to be more like Jesus
  I Corinthians 13: 11
  Galatians 5: 22 - 24
  


• To do this, we must accept two premises:we must take seriously the goal of becoming stronger and wiser in Christ.second, we must learn to recognize the same characteristics of a growing Christian in other people


• Some specific characteristics of a grown-up friend
  deep trust, someone who can look at your heart
  someone who can speak the truth in love
  this means that she is able to work through problems, not around them


• it is important to remember the purpose in every one of your grown-up friendships. On page 29 of the book, the authors quote Christian motivational Speaker, Rick Warren as saying, "focusing on yourself will never reveal your real purpose. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that your life will never make sense. Only in God do we discover our orgin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance and our destiny"


• Recognizing the purpose of every relationship, has its benefits
  1. It takes the focus off you. It's more about what God is doing through you
  2. It can reduce feelings of rejection in the friendship
  3. It can bring hope and meaning into the relationship, this is especially helpful when the hard times roll around.


• That being said, pay attention and actively listen to your friends, your purpose may be revealed in a conversation. You never know how your presence is being used at that moment to be of encouragement and comfort
• God is in control- recognizing this makes it easier for us to realize that in everything we see, we should see him. Likewise, our friend should be able to look at us and see Christ.
• In creating grown-up friendships, it does reduce the possibility of rejection. Why? Because we have to take responsibility for our own well-being and emotional health rather than relying on our friend to provide it for us.
• Ultimately, our purpose should be to glorify God in everything that we do. If we realize this, every friendship should have a goal. Focusing on God instead of ourselves
• One last comment on chapter 2 on page 36: the grown-up friend honors God by encouraging her friend to become all He wants her to be

Rolloff family on Oprah

So,

The Rolloff family was on Oprah. I believe I've talked about their show on TLC many times for a previous posts on this blog. In synopsis, the show follows the life of a family affected by dwarfism . This family of five is made up of three average size children (Molly, Jacob and Jeremy) as well as Zach who takes after his parents. They are both little people. Despite their disability, nothing stops this family. During their show, they have taken family vacations to such places as Hawaii and the Grand Canyon.

During its three-year run, "Little People, Big World " has tried to show the American people that people who are different can in fact lead productive lives and can be an inspiration to you if you just take the time to get to know them-starting from the inside and then working your way out. At the family, they have learned to overcome their daily struggles by adapting what they can't do into something that can. One example of this is when Amy was younger-she was able to climb on the grocery shelf to get what she needed. A little adventurous, but it worked. They have learned to adapt to their circumstances instead of just giving up.

The head of the family (Matt) is your average businessman who travels. As well as owning a pumpkin farm, he is also the founder and creator of Direct Access Solutions -a company bent on making hotels more accessible for little people. Amy is your average homemaker and a soccer mom rolled into one.

Fast paced times in Chicago

Well,

I'm back from a whirlwind trip to Chicago. My friends and I had some good times, but unfortunately we brought home with us all colds. I guess that's why they call it the Windy City. Since returning, I thought I would give you an overview of the weekend and how accessible they were. I was going to post a few pictures, but unfortunately, every time I try to it comes up with a "internal error" message. Oh well.

For starters, we arrived in Chicago on Saturday afternoon after four hours on the road. My friend had already made arrangements for us to stay at the Best Western at Grant Park. They were pretty good considering the circumstances. Apparently, there had been a mixup with the reservations; they had us for one night in two rooms instead of the other way around. But the manager was helpful in clearing up the problem. But because of the mixup, we weren't able to get a handicapped accessible room. Anyway, the rest of the day was spent relaxing and dining at the hotel restaurant.

On Sunday, we got up around 11 a.m. and hit the town. Our first stop was the Sears Tower. Originally, this building was the tallest building in America until it was surpassed by some building in China. It was a long ride up in the elevator-about a hundred floors up. Surprisingly, it only took about five minutes to get all the way up to the top. Our ears were popping the whole time.. You could see just about everything from up there-even where Oprah lives. She lives on top of the Hancock building in Chicago. Our next stop was the Shedd Aquarium. That was fun; the place was huge and we ended up getting ourselves lost a couple of times. After that, we needed some energy. So what did we do? We ended up going to the Hershey company. Can we say, "a slice of heaven on earth?"

I could go on and on about the trip, but honestly my voice is getting tired and I should conserve my energy for when I really need it. Those were just some of the activities that occurred during the famous "Road Trip". The trip wasn't really that expensive in the end, considering my friend had gotten us Chicago Go cards . These gave us access to most of Chicago's attractions for a reduced rate or even free.

New treatment for those with spina bifida

Hello everyone,

In a matter of days I will be heading out of town for my birthday. As a result, there will be no Monday post. But I'm sure you can do without me for one day, right?

Anyways, on to today's post. I came across a interesting report last night. Investigated by Lila Lazarus, a new " Health Works " reported on a new treatment for spina bifida. Today, approximately 3000 children are born with this disability. In simple terms, spina bifida happens when the spine never completely develops during birth. As a result, this often creates difficulty when helping with personal care, such as the toileting. That is all about to change however with the help of surgery. During the surgery, nerves are taken from a child 's leg and rerouted to the bladder. Surgeries like these are being done down at the Beaumont Hospital. So far, there is a 90% success rate.
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Citation for TV Program: "Health Works" News segment Lila Lazarus reporting Fox2 News. Channel 2 WDIV Detroit, News at 10 pm, April 17, 2008

Birthday reflections

Well,

It's hard to believe but in less than a week I will be 28 years old. In those 28 years, I have accomplished a lot. Graduating from college, getting a job, and living on my own just to name a

few. For some, this may seem like small little feats. But it's really not. As part of the disabled community, we consider even the simplest hurdles accomplishments.

I have learned to take each day as it comes, often considering it for the lessons they can teach me . These lessons were invaluable to me in so many ways. They have helped me to develop in both a personal (emotionally, and as a individual) and professional level. Professionally, I hope I can have the opportunity to share what I have learned with others in my situation; my way of giving people hope that anything is possible.

It is not without a little fear that I approach the next year of my life. After all, it looks like I will be moving with my family to Virginia. With that, brings obvious changes- a new home, new friends . But it also brings new opportunities. From the beginning, I have told my readers I am not the best when it comes to change. That part of me hasn't changed and I don't think it ever will. I have minor concerns about moving; after all, it was here that I spent a majority of my life. (I don't know about you, but I consider the later years important ones). It is then that you began to figure and what you want in life. At least that's what happened with me. Still, I am believing this will be the best thing for all of us.

Although, fear can be a good thing in the end. It can push you to do things you never expected it you would do and take you to new heights. It just depends on how you look at life. Will the glass be half full or half empty. You can decide. It also can show you where your dependence lies- is it based on faith or security? I will admit, I'm not perfect. I do have personal goals that have yet to be met. And that, in itself, scares me. As humans, we tend to evaluate ourselves. By our own standards and the standards of the world. We forget what really matters. Loving people and passing on the lessons we have learned to them

In the future, I hope to have accomplished most of my personal goals and have a family while continuing my passion for writing.

Dyslexia

Hello everyone ~

During the weekend, Bruce Jenner hosted a informative report on dyslexia on PBS. Unfortunately, dyslexia is not often seen as a disability; however, one out of ten Americans are impacted by the reading disorder. Jenner, being just one of the people impacted by the disorder.

This PBS special highlighted dyslexia and the many other issues impacting the education of young children today. According to the program, over 50% of all intercity schools read below their grade. As a result, this has led to a rise in dropouts during high school. In all, approximately 3000 children have been placed in special education classrooms- simply because they can't read. Many of them are later diagnosed with dyslexia.

Simply put, dyslexia can be defined as "difficulty with language. "Discovered by Orten over a century ago, it continues to be seen as a neurological disorder. In other words, language can be seen as a complex code; in order to decipher words, we must connect different combinations of letters to the sounds they make. In most cases, this is done automatically by the brain . For others, though, the process is more difficult.