Not exactly...

I've been asked to help in the Special Religious Education class (SPRED) at our church. It's Sunday School for children who have autism, Down Syndrome and other special needs. Currently, the group is made up of 6-10 boys whose ages range from 6 to 17.

We spend a long time in gathering and quieting activities, helping each student choose an activity that will bring them to a calm disposition. Today, I did chalk drawings, looked at book of Biblical paintings and examined smooth rocks with one little boy who doesn't speak but who has a smile worth waiting for. 

After the calming activities, we gather in a prayer circle to listen to the message for the day. Sometimes it is a short story. Other times it is just a talk about a particular topic. The prayer circle concludes with one message that is passed from student to student to helper. 

Today's message was: "Jesus said, 'Find peace in Me.'" 

Ms. Kathy took the hands of one of our friends, smiled and said, "Find peace in Me." With a little coaxing, he turned to the helper next to him (Ms. Kristen) and said the same. Ms. Kristen turned to Adam, who was sitting next to me, looked him in the eye, smiled and said "Adam, 'Find peace in Me.'"

Adam turned to me, plopped his fists in my open, waiting hands and said, "Do you want a piece of me?"

I suppose, in some sense, that's what Jesus meant too.

Walk this way...

Let your fingers walk this way to a couple of posts I have at other places:

Acting Balanced: This one is most out of my comfort zone. Heather was using her blog to promote Autism Awareness Month for April and I offered to guest post about our experience with Robbie being "on the spectrum." It's the first time I think I've really connected his name with the "a" word. 


Fit City Moms Blog: This is my usual monthly post for Fit City. This month, I was inspired by a Rite Aid commercial about 15 minutes and wrote about 15 minute starts to better health and fitness. I'd love it if you would come over and share your thoughts too.

All Things Aging: You've been there. You end up in the grocery store line that seems to move the slowest. What if the cashier is an older person? How would you respond? Visit the post and tell us WWYD?

Finally -- and I didn't write this one -- check out a special report on the Royal Wedding by my friend Sarah's 3-year-old son. Love this!

Taking it offline

I've met some really cool people online. Some via this blog. Others through participation in other social network sites. But I've only met a handful of them in person. Yesterday, I upped that total by one when I had lunch with Angie of Angelica Grace Designs.

I invited her to lunch because we live in the same school district and they've had a really good experience with the resource programs available for her daughter who has special needs. (She's the cutie who models all the AGD clothing.) I just wanted to hear about what the public school district has to offer to make sure we're doing right by Robbie as far as school goes.

The discussion about school was about 1/8 of my conversation with Angie. We talked about how much my Charlie and her Brennan would get along. I asked about how she started AGD. We talked about how we both got married fairly young (she at 18, me at 23) and how we'd never let our own kids do the same (as if we have any control over that!). We nodded in agreement that women need their girlfriends.

It was a very nice way to spend an hour or so. Her family is leaving soon for the summer, but I hope Angie and I have a chance to catch up again next fall. Have you ever met up with someone in person who you first met online? Is there someone you know from online that you'd like to meet in real life? Or do you think that's crazy and/or dangerous? Tell us a little about it.