We all must change…

Posted By Steph | February 20, 2008

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I think one of my favorite authors Donald Miller put it best in his book, Through Painted Deserts that everyone must be continually changing and growing in their life in order to be truly capable of living this life to the fullest.

In the forward he writes, “I want to keep my soul fertile for the changes, so things keep getting born in me, so things keep dying when it is time for things to die. I want to keep walking away from the person I was a moment ago, because a mind was made to figure things out, not to read the same page recurrently. Only the good stories have the characters different at the end than they were at the beginning. And the closest thing I can liken life to is a book, the way it stretches out on paper, page after page, as if to trick the mind into thinking it is all happening at once. Time has pressed you and me into a book, too, this tiny chapter we share together, this vapor of a scene, pulling our seconds into minutes and minutes into hours. Everything we were is no more, and what we will become, will become what was. This is from where the story stems, the stuff of it’s construction lying at our feet like cut strips of philosophy.”

And so now my story is changing. I’ve recently been working at a school for students that have severe disabilities. Since November I had taken on the role of pseudo nurse/caregiver for 55 students ranging from the ages of 5-21. With a background in special-education, I thought that this would be a perfect fit for me for awhile,and in just the few short months that I worked there I fell in love with each and every student. It’s hard not to, trust me. But all good things must come to an end, or so they say ( i’ll believe it when I see it) and since I wasn’t exactly a permanent teacher, just a sub, I decided to move onto a bigger and better opportunity. From the very beginning of my special-ed. career ambitions I have wanted to be an independent consultant. I love being in the classroom, but there is somewhat of a business side to me too that I long to explore. Starting an independent consultation service would be just the right fit for this kind of aspiration.

So like clockwork, God’s perfect timing interceeded at just the right moment. I was beginning to get a little burnt out on my substitute position at the school when a lady contacted me who needed some extra help with her consultation business. I jumped to the opportunity and in no time I now have several families that I will be working with in the next few weeks. The goal of this business is to incorporate a developed therapy plan called ABA therapy into a child’s daily life. I’ll save all of the theory talk for lack of space but basically ABA (applied behavior analysis) therapy involves creating a highly structured environment in which a child with autism can more easily grasp the necessary skills for learning.

Sounds pretty fun huh? Well… I think so at least. Special education definitely holds a special place in my heart and I look forward to exploring this new avenue of opportunity. And so, now to continue in my changing season of life, next chapter please.

Filed Under random thoughts, workin' for the man

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    • Talkies (we love hearing from you!)

    4 Talkies! to “We all must change…”

    1. Magen on February 20th, 2008 8:07 pm

      So exciting! It takes a special kind of person to do what you do with these individuals, and I know from personal experience, it’s extremely rewarding!

      Few people these days get to do what they truly love - congrats on that, alone!! :)

    2. Mom on February 21st, 2008 4:27 pm

      I’m very excited (not to mention proud. I know you’ll do well. Love you

    3. Hup on February 21st, 2008 7:30 pm

      I love mom comments. :)

    4. Donald Miller and his book Blue Like Jazz - a Hup and Steph favorite : Hup and Steph on April 23rd, 2009 9:28 am

      [...] to ready is another one of Donald’s books Through Painted Deserts (which Stephanie mentions in this post). It’s an awesome read as [...]

    What do you want to tell us, hmmm?