Easter Blessing
The hope in every heart is peace
giving freedom to dreams
Inspiration freely given to those who see
To those who have listening hearts
We are not alone here, living lives without purpose
in homes without contentment
living in quiet solitude
rather,
look
hear
embrace
love
extend hope
We are not alone
We are part of the divine.
Karly
April 22, 2011
I want to share my song: When I Get To See You: 08 Track 08
Jenni Taylor with her Mom and Charlie
My friend Jenni Taylor was crowned Ms Wheelchair Minnesota last week! She is going to have opportunities to be an advocate and share concerns and issues that people with disabilities face. I have been thinking about some ideas for her and I thought it might be good to see if any of you have things you would like her to think about when she shares her messages. She will be traveling all over our state and will be competing for the national title. She is very intelligent and is disabled as a result of a car accident that broke her neck. She is a strong, beautiful person who feels honored to now be an advocate to people who have limitations because of a disability. She is so interested in having a voice that can be used for good that she is getting her degree in communication studies. She has many reasons to be angry, but she isn’t. She feels that God can use her life now in ways He couldn’t before.
Thanks Jenni for being my friend and my hero. You deserve this title and I am so happy that you can help many people understand disability better. If you have ideas for Jenni please write them here. (in my comments)
You can become her fan on her Facebook page.
She is an inspiring young person. Her life is only going to get better.
I want to have you go to her blogpage too.
Love, Karly
My friend and music producer Barbara McAfee sent me the link to this video yesterday. She was so touched by his story and said he reminded her of me and thought I should see it. It always makes me feel so good when someone who has many people who they know and respect speak up, even when it is hard, on behalf of those of us who cannot. I respect his voice a lot. It sounds like he has not kept hidden. I plan on following his blog.
I hope his courage to share what it is like to not be seen as a capable person because he lost his voice through nothing he could control, will inspire you too.
Love, Karly
I have been in a strange place these past few days. I was so content for many days without any hyperventilating or breath holding and now I can’t stop either of them. I am frustrated about that! But, my mood is good and I feel happy inside, even though I am struggling to breathe.
I wanted to write about that because for the past two days I have had important things happen. One of them was a meeting I was so excited about for a long time. I will write about that some other time, but because I was so hyper and struggling with breath holding, I felt really embarrassed. I usually don’t have that feeling, but I really wanted to hear what was being said and I was so restless, it was distracting. I hate that! It’s hard to have my body do what it wants, even when my mind is screaming no!
I was suppose to go to my women’s study group today, but because of my restless body I decided it would be too hard for me to be there. It’s even more hard when the room is quiet and the only sounds are a person’s voice and the sound of me hyperventilating.
In a small town near our house. I love the sound of water. We had a picnic near the river today
Since it has been beautiful here this week I have been getting outside some, but it’s still a little cool. So, today and yesterday, my Mom and I went for long drives around the country and saw some beautiful areas. I have chosen a bunch of books for my Ipod that my sister Leah got for me. While we were driving we listened to one of my books, and I just finished it today. I felt so inspired by it. It was written by Chris Tomlin, who is a musician and worship leader. He shared his story of how he began playing music and how much he always loved to sing and perform. I think the best part for me was to hear him share his struggles and to hear him say how hard it was when he started singing for people. The title is: The Way I was Made. He knew that he loved music and was passionate about worshipping, so he kept praying for a life where he could do that. I heard him say to not forget, each one of us was created for something special. And even if we have many challenges in our lives, we are unique and our purpose is different from anyone else. We don’t need to be the same as anyone else! We are not created to be copies of other people, but to become who we were created to be.
I needed to be reminded of this today, because as I struggle with my body and the embarrassment I feel sometimes, being with normal people, I realized that God knows me best and He isn’t embarrassed of me. Even if I do things that are distracting to others, God knows my heart and how much I want to be free from these struggles. Maybe my weakness is the thing that can be the most help to others. Chris Tomlin said that many times he has seen how God doesn’t use the things that we are strongest in to help other people, but the things that are our biggest challenge.
I was helped by this today.
We drove by this waterfall today. It's too muddy to get close yet, but I'm eager to do that soon.
Love, Karly
Inspired By Love 