Special Olympics Bowling

Today we went bowling with adults with special needs.  I had a fun time and I think the olympians did also.  I was in a group with 4 men:  Brett Davis, Eddie L., Jay Barker, and Loren B.   They were not the best bowlers in the world but Brett did better than I normally do.  These men were pretty silent and Jay couldn't talk.  It was very rewarding to see the smiles on their faces when they hi-fived me after getting a rare strike or spare.  Sometimes it was frustrating when they took forever trying to pick a ball or when they threw the ball so slowly that it felt like it took an hour for it to finally make it to the end of the gutter.  I then realized how gifted with patients the coaches and helpers must be.  If I was getting annoyed after only 2 hours I can only imagine what it would be like to spend a whole day having to walk them through the most basic activities.  There was a man on the lane next to me named Weslie.  He could not stop talking about his choo-choo train that was black and gray (today).  He was going to ride home on it at 1:30 and he kept asking Carolyn and I "Will you come with me next time"?  One thing I noticed about him was that he always had a smile on his face.  It is kind of hard to believe how if you were mentally handicapped and everyone treated you so differently you could be happy at all times.  The bowler's coach told me that Weslie and Jay( the one who liked to try my patience in picking out a ball) pretty much lived life in their own little worlds.  They don't really know whats going on around them.  Every time it was Jay's turn he would get up and walk to the ball return and just stand there and rock himself and he would forget what he was there to do, he had a hard time putting his fingers in the ball and he would turn around immediately after releasing the ball and never see how many pins he knocked down or anything.  I feel sorry for him and wonder why God made people like that.  What is going on inside their heads that they don't know how to do anything?  I also feel bad that he must not know anything besides what his nurse tells him and then he can only remember for a short time.  It is hard not to treat people differently when they are mute, walk very slowly, and show no emotion.  There was another man in Carolyn's lane that was named Raymond.  He had his own bowing shoes and brought his own ball.  It was sad to see that he only got to use his ball a few times because other people in his lane and mine were using it.  Also in Carolyn's lane was a man named Billy.  Almost every time he bowled he got a gutter ball, but he would clap and get all happy anyway.  If I gutterballed it I would be very angry.  His joy must have come from God.  One of the highlights of the day was when he gutterballed it actually.  His gutterball was so weak that it didn't even make it to the end of the lane. I tried to knock it down the gutter with another ball but mine got stuck instead.  The next bowler knocked down alot of pins as a result of the ball bouncing from the ball stuck in the gutter back into the lane and Weslie actually got a strike knocked off the ball backboard!  I had a really fun time and I hope we gave the special olympians a day they will never forget :)

Spiritual Emphasis Week

     I really enjoyed having Andy Braner in Chapel this week.  Unfortunately I only got to here him speak three of the six messages:( but my favorite message was the one about relationships.  I really liked how he used songs we all know and love to show us how we behave. 
     It is typical of a relationship to start off lovey dovey and romantic.  You love the person just the way they are and you tell them every day.  You are really cute with each other and it is just fun to be together.
     The next step is obsession.  You end up staying up til 2 in the morning texting your lover and maby even lose some of your other friends.  You might  feel like your living a Teenage Dream, but it definately goes down hill from here.  You become so obsessed that you feel like you have to be with the person no matter what.  This is where the relationship becomes a not so positive thing to be involved in. 
     It might be time for you to take a break from each other.  You are spending an extremely large amount of tiem together and its getting old, but without them you feel so empty inside without them and they are like your drug.  You just can't get off of them and you feel like they are your disease.
      Then comes abuse.  You need them and it doesn't matter how tired they are of you, or you are of them, or what they do to you, you will just keep running back to them because you love them too much to handle it. This relationship is definately not glorifying to God.
       We as Christians need to make sure that our relationships are pleasing and honoring in God's sight.  If we get too attached to a person that we don't have time to focus on God or his plans for our lives we could miss out on something big.   

Friends

Friends are a major part of my life right now.  I would normally say oh a good quality in a friend is that they are nice to me, but really my friends and I are pretty mean to each other.  My friends need to be able to kid around with me.  They need to be funny and listen to me because I like to vent with my friends.  I think it is important to have a lot of close friends so that when you are mad at one you can go to another and not be lonely.  Ha is that kinda bad to say?  I think that it is true that it is important for them to be Christian so that they can build you up and pray for you when you need someone.  I also think that in order to be close friends you must hang out and spend a lot of time together, and that is why I don't have many friends that go to other schools.  I have some friends from other schools, but we don't share the closeness I have with my friends at OBA.  Most of my friends play the same sports as me and we spend a lot of time doing extracurricular activities together.  Being able to talk freely to them about anything and sharing your thoughts with them is really important in a friendship.  One thing I need to work on in being a good friend is not to take sarcastic comments too literally. My friends and I like to use sarcasm, but sometimes I let it go too far.  In conclusion, everyone's friends are different because everyone is different, but we should just rely on God that he will give us the people we need in our lives to be our friends.