When I applied to Samford University, I had to write an entrance essay on the person who had had the greatest influence on my life. Greatest influence on my life….that’s a big question to answer, but for me it wasn’t a very difficult one. Of course, my family and close friends have greatly influenced me but one special person made an impact on me that will stay with me forever. A young boy named David helped me realize my heart for children with special needs. David never spoke a word. He couldn’t run and even walk, but David was so loved by his family. David was uniquely created by God for a divine purpose. God used my time with David to create in me a desire to see all children know they are important and loved. Every day I see my students overcome challenges, whether it’s learning to read or learning to walk. I am so grateful to David and his family for allowing me the opportunity to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that teaching special education is a part of God’s plan for my life. It is my privilege every day to work with these special students.
Welcome to Holland
When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous trip to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your plans. The Coliseum. Michelangelo’s David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”
“Holland?!?!” you say. “What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”
But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you never would have met.
It’s just a different place. It’s slower- paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away because the loss of a dream is a significant loss. But, if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t go to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”
“Holland?!?!” you say. “What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”
But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you never would have met.
It’s just a different place. It’s slower- paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away because the loss of a dream is a significant loss. But, if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t go to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.
--Emily Perl Kingsley
I will never forget the day we found out Mom had colon cancer. I know there hasn’t been anything that I have prayed more faithfully for in my life than I did for her to get better. There was a completely helpless feeling that came over me that day reminding me that I was not the one in control. This would be the time in my life that my faith would be tested as I watched my mom endure surgery, chemotherapy and hospital stays. It was also the time in my life that I learned that God works miracles everyday. He is in all things from the big picture to the smallest details. Our entire family was blessed and encouraged over the next year as mom went through her treatments. Watching someone you love experience chemotherapy that then leaves with something as debilitating as rheumatoid arthritis is gut wrenching, but I am so thankful that Mom serves a God who loves her even more than I do.
I turned on my I-Pod as we started our race this morning. Steven Curtis Chapman’s, “Moment Made for Worshipping” was the first song I heard. I didn’t really think much about the significance of the song at first, but as I heard the chorus I was actually crying. This morning really was an opportunity to thank God for my mom, what she has overcome and where she is today. 
