Possibilities

Possibilities dan skognes motivation blogger speaker teacher trainer coach teacher educatorI watched a short video this morning of Sadie Guthrie, a teacher who helps kids with special needs at Lawton Alternative School. What she did was both inspiring and amazing at the same time. She started a coffee service in her school for the special needs kids to do. They served the teachers fresh coffee throughout the day. They also went every day to a local bakery that was donating pastries to the school.

So many good things came out of this small act of love:

  • The kids took pride in their new business and were learning social skills and received business experience while doing something good for the teachers.
  • The teachers were shown appreciation in a unique and meaningful way.
  • The teachers got to know the special needs kids on a personal level that they would never have had the opportunity to do otherwise.
  • The bakery got to do something cool for the school and give back to those dedicated to serve the kids.
  • The community got to see special needs kids out and about using public transportation and doing something productive with their lives.

When she was telling her short story of what she was doing for the kids, she got choked up when she talked about people who are unkind to the special needs kids. They are pretty easy targets for those who wish to bully or ridicule, but as this showed, they have hearts and minds too. They have a purpose.  Perhaps their purpose is to teach us to love one another.

Sadie gave a powerful lesson in life: don’t see people for their disabilities; see them for their possibilities. We all have disabilities that we have to deal with to some degree. Next time you look at someone….don’t think about what they can’t do. Imagine what they CAN do…then encourage them to do it. Magic happens when life is breathed into another soul. It is not our job to change people.  It is our job to love them and encourage them.

If you want to see Sadie’s story firsthand, here is the link. Check it out.  You will be blessed: https://youtu.be/_1dBa6f0qyk

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

 

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