Summer = Lack of Posts

I was doing pretty good at first. I posted on what people were asking about. I tried to get information out as I thought about it. Lately, as you've noticed, this blog has been pretty stagnate. It hasn't been that I haven't had anything to share, it's simply been SUMMER. For most ministries, summer is a time when you can breathe deeper and enjoy a slower pace. Most families do tend to travel during the summer, therefore keeping them from attending their home church service on Sunday mornings. For anyone somewhat involved in Children's Ministry, you know this is quite different. Summer means Vacation Bible School, Summer Camps, and all the socials you can muster up. For Special Needs Ministry, it is no different.This summer has been full of event after event after event. In my life, I'd have it no other way.

To start we had Vacation Bible School. This year our church held Vacation Bible School at night. To some in our SN Ministry, this was a huge inconvenience. Many kids with SN tend to have more extreme behaviors in the evening. Some are caused by simply being tired from the day, some are caused by "sun downers". Regardless, the evening time can be trying for families with SN kids. To ask them to come out to the church for VBS can be more than they're willing to think about. On the other hand, there were several kids who were able to come to VBS this year because it did not interfere with their summer school programs. Many of our SN kids are in summer school programs that run in the morning. When VBS is in the morning, many of our kids are unable to participate. This year we had a great turn out. There were about 15 SN kids who participated in Vacation Bible School with a buddy. They sat in the large group times, did crafts, participated in games, and heard about the love of Christ each night. It was amazing. It not only fed the child spiritually, it allowed mom and dad to have two and a half hours each evening as respite.

The next major event of the summer was our time at Joni & Friends Family Retreat. This year we took 13 families and 8 volunteers down to Camp Allen to participate in the Joni & Friends Family Retreat. While camp can be expensive, we spent time throughout the year raising money to help send our families. Without the extra financial burden on them, they were able to really enjoy their "vacation". While at camp, Joni & Friends provides a volunteer to pair up with each SN child and their siblings. While the kids are off enjoying the camp activities with their assigned volunteer, mom and dad are free to do whatever they'd like. There are activities and worship times planned but they also have the freedom to skip out on things and just relax. Before camp, I had actually never seen some of our parents relaxed and kid-free. To see them in a new way and be able to connect with them outside of the craziness of the SN Ministry was a blessing.

Throughout the remainder of the summer we've had various socials and special events. Some of them are planned well in advance, some of them are spur of the moment because the opportunity arose like the baseball game we attended. One of our teachers was given a suite to a baseball game. Within a week, we had all our John 9:3 (Adults and Older Teens with SN) families arranged to enjoy a baseball game out of the heat and with plenty of food and drinks. It wasn't something that everyone was able to attend because of the short notice but those who were there had a fabulous time.

I wanted to tell you about the summer not just to give you an excuse about why this blog hasn't been updated but to let you know what can be done. So many times we are too scared to plan too much for our SN kids and their families to participate in. We often limit them before they're able to make their own decision. We think that they wouldn't want to do something or they wouldn't feel comfortable doing something. When we do this, we're really putting more limits on them and that's just not fair. So, as you're planning for next summer, remember they want to have the same summer experiences as everyone else. Plan it, promote it, and have fun with those who do choose to attend.