Another School Year Begins...

I thought I was going to be working with the same teacher and assistants this year but have different students.  Instead I have the same students, but I'm working with a different teacher and assistants. The change was made because our nonverbal autistic student needs a one to one aide and apparently I was chosen for this task. It was a rather stressful transition.  I like the people I'm working with, but they're very different than what I'm used to.  Since the students are now in 2nd and 3rd grade we're focusing more on academics and less on social skills. This was hard because the students really need the social skills component and my nonverbal student isn't capable of academic work.  Instead he needs to focus on learning how to communicate via an ipad and we still need to try and reinforce as much speech as we possibly can.  We worked on getting him to say "eat" last year.  He sometimes remembers how to do that.  He also remembers how to make the sound of "m" when asking for milk.  Thankfully with some adjustments to the schedule and curriculum things are going smoother this week.  My student and I can also go back to the other class whenever he needs a sensory break and I just need a few moments of sanity :).

BTW, when I mean sanity I mean going and seeing the new autistic student we have who screams in the presence of loud noises, will randomly stand up with his pencil to "practice his golf swing", finishes his work by saying "Thanks for playing! Come again next time!", and who has literally thrown himself on my lap to giggle hysterically into my neck when he sees something funny on the computer screen.  He keeps me laughing, that's for sure!

The Chair

Most Thursday nights you will find me at small group Bible study.  A few weeks ago we were at one of our leaders' apartments.  We were just sitting around and talking when all of a sudden the chair that one of the guys had been sitting on just collapsed from under him and he fell to the floor.  This guy didn't have a weight problem and hadn't been doing anything unusual with the chair so it was a mystery as to why the chair just broke apart.  The guys were going to throw it out but I convinced them to let me take it with to show Ray.  I figured if anyone could put the chair back together he could - and he did.

After inspecting the broken chair pieces, Ray determined that the chair had been broken once before and that whoever had put it back together the first time had drilled screws into the wood.  It seemed like a good temporary solution, however, what actually happened was that the screws weakened the wood.  It was only a matter of time before the wooden legs gave away again.

This made me think:  How many times have I been broken and tried to fill the hole in my heart with something that seemed good but were only temporary solutions such as alcohol, tranquilizers, and sex.  Sure, I seemed fine on the outside but my inside was crumbling and it was only a matter of time before I broke down again.  The only permanent solution to filling that hole was by turning to Christ, repenting, and remaining focused on Him.  This doesn't mean that I'm perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it does mean that when I fail or when life seems hopelessly overwhelming that I can focus on Christ and be strengthened by Him.  I may bend, but HE will NEVER let me be broken beyond repair.  After all, HE's the master carpenter!

"A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;"

Isaiah 42:3

"He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake."

Psalm 23:3