Faith & Flexibility

Thank you to Laura Pollard, Elyse Cyr & Lori Konopasek, missions team leaders, for writing today's blog.

You may have heard the chants in the hallway:  “SB MIE 2015!  SB MIE 2015!”

This Spring Break, eight students and four staff will be embarking on the first ever Shepherds College Spring Break Mission Immersion Experience – specifically christened SB MIE 2015! 

At the crack of dawn on March 31^st, eight brave students and their fully caffeinated instructors will leave from O’Hare Airport and travel to St. Mary’s, Jamaica for an eight day missions experience.  We will be partnering with Kenneth and Eileen Terroade of Uphill Ministries and experiencing life on the mission field in another country.  Students will be leading Vacation Bible School, participating in service projects, and sharing the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  

As students and staff prepare for this trip, two words continually come up in our meetings and conversations:  faith and flexibility!  Faith has been woven into this trip from the beginning.   During the genesis of this trip,  Elyse, Lori and I continually looked at one another and exclaimed, “Are we really doing this?!  Are we crazy?! Is God going to provide?!?!”  The answers to all of these questions we tossed around were a big “YES”!!!!  Yes, we feel that God has given us a burden and a desire to expose our students to mission experiences, yes, God has proven over and over again that HE is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides, and yes we probably are crazy, but as we’ve said from the beginning,  “Go big or go home!”  

 

When we asked what these two words mean to our students, these were our students’ responses: 

Crystal Nystrand said: “Flexibility means to go with the flow and do whatever needs to be done.  Faith is to believe that God will provide and let Him take over you.”

Olya Porth said: “To me, faith means that I have to trust in God in everything I am doing to get ready to go to Jamaica.  Flexibility is to do something that you don’t want to do, but you do it anyway.”

Willetta McVicker described faith and flexibility as:  “Faith means to trust and believe without seeing and to know that God will make a way in His will.  Flexibility means to do or go where you are told without arguing and to get out of your comfort zone.” 

When asked about faith and flexibility, Wade Phillips said, “Faith means to have a relationship with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  Flexibility means to go with the flow to wherever the journey to Jamaica takes us!”

Micah Muma defined faith and flexibility as:  “Faith means that I don’t need to worry- I just need to have faith that God has it all under control.  Flexibility means that I just need to go with the flow with changes or anything on a trip or in life.” 

Jonathan Ingram said: “Having faith is trusting God that He will provide for you.  When you realize that you can’t do anything on your own.  Flexibility means to go with the flow- you may be set on something to happen, but then God throws you somewhere else.”

Andrew Gummow said that “Faith is believing in God and flexibility means to do whatever is asked with joy!”

Nikki Monroe described faith and flexibility as: “Faith means how much you believe in God.  Flexibility means being able to switch gears quickly without getting mad or anxious.”

We could not be more grateful for this opportunity that God has provided and this team that He put together!

Hmmm…Faith and flexibility may not only apply to a Spring Break missions trip to Jamaica…

 



Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.

Teacher Tuesday: Quotes for the Workday

Day 16 of the 31 for 21 Challenge

There are days when work is hard.

Like the days when I feel guilty for being a working mom. Days when my husband has a day off and I want to be home with him. Days when it’s too cold or too wet or too cloudy and I want to stay under a blanket all morning.

Or those days when my responsibilities at work outlast my energy.  The days when I’m not sure what I’m doing. And days when my concentration is lacking because my entire mind is filled with thoughts, worries, hopes and prayers about the well-being of my kids.

But on these days, I work anyway. Not because the weather suddenly improved, or my workload lightened, or my worries lifted, but because I reminded myself of why I work at Shepherds College.

A simple verse from the book of Colossians keeps me going:

“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”  Colossians 3:23-24

I work because God has a purpose for me here and the quote is a potent reminder. Even on days when my mind is filled with analytics, media coverage and board reports - like soft background music in a movie, I can hear in my head, “work as to the Lord, work as to the Lord, work as to the Lord…”

The teachers at Shepherds College have jobs so different from my own. Their work directly impacts the days, the minds and the lives of our students. On the scale of jobs ranging in importance from mannequin modeling to brain surgeon, I’d put teachers right next to the guys wielding the scalpels and IVs. 

I wondered, “What types of quotes influence the teachers’ thoughts or actions each day?”

 

“My mom always says, ‘God answers prayers in one of three ways: Yes, No, or Wait.’ This quote reminds me that He is in control.”  Kim Pechous, Residential Life Faculty

 

“’Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.’ Proverbs 3:5-6” Erin Luchterhand, Instructor

Laura Pollard, Instructor, has two quotes that are important to her, “I have a picture of my favorite Bible verse hanging up in my office  - 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10, ‘But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’ It’s a reminder to me daily that His grace is ALL I need, and Jesus is going to use my weaknesses and frailties to minister to my students and those around me because I am strong – not because of anything I have done, but because of who HE is and what HE has done!!

 

Another fabulous quote that I turn to when I’m faced with a situation where I just want to bang my head against a wall, reminds me to just laugh! Mark Twain said it best, ‘Against the onslaught of laughter nothing can stand.’”

Daniel Gaschke, Residential Life Faculty, offered several quotes that help him as he’s working with the students, “Often times people – in an attempt to be helpful, loving and caring – do things for people with disabilities rather than training them how to do it for themselves. At Shepherds College, we seek to teach our students ‘how to fish’ rather than simply ‘giving them a fish.’ Training them – not doing for them – is what will ultimately be most helpful to our students. This quote was attributed to Abraham Lincoln, ‘You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.’

Encouragement that God always is and always does what is ultimately good – even ‘dis’abilities are a part of God’s good design:

‘The Lord said to Moses, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who made him mute, or deaf , or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” ‘Exodus 4:11

“As He went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.’” John 9:1-3”

Quotes can be powerful. They come from people who have gone through something similar to what you’re going through. They put situations in context and help you find perspective. They can teach, they can guide, and they can remind.

They also say, “I can relate,” so they’re meant to be shared.

Please share your favorite quote with us. It may be just what we need to impact our day as we teach students with intellectual disabilities at Shepherds College.

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.

Shepherds College Character Trait #3: Initiative

Definition of Initiative: readiness and ability in initiating action; enterprise

Out of the six character traits the college emphasizes, initiative is the one that makes colorful balloons, whirling confetti and loud cheers go off inside my head. I have this reaction for two reasons:

1.       I’ve been placed in positions of management since I’ve been a teenager. There are qualities in your employees that you learn to prize more than others, and initiative is one of them. An employee that recognizes what needs to be done, and then does it without waiting to be asked, makes their time, their boss, their co-workers and their company so much more productive. It’s an invaluable trait to bring into an organization.

2.      I’m a mother of a teenager, and as any mother of a typical, garden-variety type teenager knows, initiative is hard to come by.  I know my daughter understands that a household needs certain things accomplished in order to function on a daily basis.   Clean dishes are a handy thing to have when dinnertime rolls around, clean laundry is mandatory for attending school, stuff like that. When I walk through the door after a long day of work and I see a sink filled with dirty dishes that she created from her endless after-school snacking, it’s common to hear me ask, “Couldn’t you have done the dishes?” to which she replies, “No one asked me to.” Or better yet, “I didn’t know I needed to.”  Huh.  I would fire her, but I think that’s actually what she wants.

At Shepherds College, we know that initiative is important for the students to learn, not only for job performance, but for daily living as an independent young adult. When one of our graduates moves out on her own, she needs to recognize when her food or supplies are getting low and do something about it. 

She needs to be aware when her work clothes are no longer clean and take the appropriate action to remedy the situation. Her parents aren’t going to be there to do these tasks for her. She needs to recognize that a task needs to be done, and then do it without being told. 

Here are several ways we accomplish this goal at Shepherds College:

Mr. Gaschke encourages initiative in the residential areas by putting the students in a position of responsibility regarding cleaning supplies and paper products.  When supplies are getting low, it’s up to the students to notify him of the need to restock.  He also expects the students to take the initiative to discuss make-up work with him if they miss school.

Mrs. Konopasek creates initiative scenarios for the students to role play in Personal Development 2. She’s also been known to purposely mess up her classroom to see if the students demonstrate initiative in straightening it up!  Heads up students!

Miss Pollard asked her third-year students to find a need in the community and meet it. The students took the initiative to look through the newspapers, find needs that were mentioned and plan service projects to help meet the needs. The students will be volunteering at animal shelters, planning a fun day for the girls at the Agape House and assisting with yard work, also at the Agape House.

Our students working with a girl from the Agape House.

Initiative is one very important key to our students’ success in school and in their pursuit of an independent living. At Shepherds College, we teach them to set goals and follow through with them on their own, to recognize needs and meet them without being told.

We have no doubt they can do it. Believing in their abilities, even when others don't, will give them the confidence to take initiative and succeed in their jobs, in their homes, and in any area of their appropriately independent lives.

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.

Teacher Tuesday: The Gift of a Smile

I love this saying:

“A laugh is a smile that bursts.”

Each word is simple, yet so uplifting and energetic when strung together in this sentence. I smile every time I think about it.

So if a laugh is a smile that bursts, what is a smile?  And I’m not talking about the kind of smile that’s just a social nicety or expectation – like the kind I paste on my lips when someone is holding a camera in front of my face. I’m talking about the kind of smile that starts in your heart and soon bubbles its way up and out. The kind that wrinkles your face, makes your cheeks glow and your eyes crinkle and sparkle. The kind that makes you momentarily forget that you’re self-conscious about the gap in your teeth or that you’re nervous about a Board presentation or that you’re worried because you just overheard your teenage daughter say that she thought nose rings were cool. The kind that others stare at because it’s attractive, and bask in because it’s like relaxing in a pool of warm, liquid sunshine.

I believe this type of smile is the outpouring and overflowing of love –

Love of the moment,

Love of the person you’re with,

Love of God,

Love of who God created you to be.

At Shepherds College, we see smiles like this regularly – our staff are people who find deep joy and satisfaction in knowing the love of the Lord and loving Him in return. Our students, even in their homesickness or worries about schoolwork, smile genuinely and often – they love making new friends, pleasing their teachers and learning new skills. 

Even with all these beautiful smiles in the hallways, classrooms and dorms, there’s one teacher that absolutely owns this expression – Miss Laura Pollard.

Last year, Miss Pollard and her dog Lucy moved to Wisconsin from Tennessee.

 Lucy

She started working at Shepherds College as Residential Life staff in Home A. This year, she’s teaching a first-year female Health class, two sections of a second-year Communications class and the third-year Trained for Life class.  She’s also an Academic Advisor for eight of our first-year students.

Along with that generous smile, she brings her easy-going, fun-loving, quirky personality into the classroom. As a teacher, she’s not afraid to go to an extreme to make a point during her lessons. If she has to teach a concept by dressing up in a bizarre costume or singing at the top of her lungs, she’s going to do it, and she’ll be laughing at herself along the way.

Is this how you dress for an interview?

Don’t let all the smiles and laughter fool you though! Miss Pollard recognizes that God called her to Shepherds College, and she takes this calling very seriously. She’s known since high school when she started volunteering with a hippotherapy horseback riding program for kids with disabilities that she would be working in this field as an adult.  After teaching for a year in the public school system, it became clear that she wanted to navigate toward post-secondary education for adults with intellectual disabilities. 

Miss Pollard prefers the hands-on and facilitator methods of teaching. As the facilitator of activities and discussions in the classes she teaches, she enjoys watching her students take charge of how the discussion is directed. She is aware that each student comes into her classroom with their own stories and experiences, and that they can teach her as much as she can teach them. There are days when these practical life lessons communicate far more than a PowerPoint ever could. It is her hope that one day her students would become content and confident in the way God has fearfully and wonderfully created them.

We at Shepherds College are blessed beyond measure to call her friend, teacher and co-worker. She wraps up her great energy, caring spirit, welcoming personality, positive attitude and cute, southern accent with one enormous, soul-warming smile - and offers it as a gift to everyone she meets.

Miss Luchterhand and Miss Pollard

“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”  ~ Mother Teresa

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.