1 00:00:11,890 --> 00:00:12,450 Hey, everyone. 2 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,278 Welcome to episode 301 of this is Whole Life. 3 00:00:16,424 --> 00:00:23,002 This week we are talking about no barriers because we have two special guests. 4 00:00:23,146 --> 00:00:25,770 One who has been on the podcast. 5 00:00:27,290 --> 00:00:29,286 I'm going to say this is number four. 6 00:00:29,468 --> 00:00:31,258 She's very lovely. 7 00:00:31,354 --> 00:00:33,238 She's a great conversationalist. 8 00:00:33,394 --> 00:00:34,758 She lives at my house. 9 00:00:34,904 --> 00:00:35,914 It's my wife, Heather. 10 00:00:35,962 --> 00:00:36,802 Welcome, Heather. 11 00:00:36,946 --> 00:00:37,578 Hi. 12 00:00:37,724 --> 00:00:42,262 And this is at least number two with Carla. 13 00:00:42,406 --> 00:00:46,510 And Carla is our young adult teenager. 14 00:00:46,510 --> 00:00:47,060 No. 15 00:00:49,010 --> 00:00:49,854 Did I do that? 16 00:00:49,892 --> 00:00:50,430 I just did. 17 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:51,282 With the C. 18 00:00:51,356 --> 00:00:52,170 Carla with the C. 19 00:00:52,220 --> 00:00:53,120 Wrong one. 20 00:00:53,930 --> 00:00:55,374 Please, someone help me out. 21 00:00:55,412 --> 00:00:56,360 Bail me out. 22 00:00:59,190 --> 00:01:01,238 Youth, not young adult youth. 23 00:01:01,274 --> 00:01:02,098 Is that what I said? 24 00:01:02,184 --> 00:01:03,602 No, I said young adult didn't. 25 00:01:03,686 --> 00:01:05,234 I totally meant youth. 26 00:01:05,402 --> 00:01:11,378 I have a youth who is under Carla and who enjoys Carla's company and her activities at the Church. 27 00:01:11,414 --> 00:01:13,378 So I do know this to be fact. 28 00:01:13,524 --> 00:01:16,630 So obviously I was not thinking clearly. 29 00:01:17,610 --> 00:01:27,838 But this week we came into a subject and I'll be honest, I was really wondering if we were going to find ourselves in I don't know what the word? 30 00:01:27,924 --> 00:01:29,258 But like overload. 31 00:01:29,414 --> 00:01:30,638 It's been kind of heavy. 32 00:01:30,734 --> 00:01:38,134 A couple of weeks ago, Bernie and I sat down after his message, which was amazing, but a lot to process, lots of things. 33 00:01:38,172 --> 00:01:40,862 And all through Black History Month, we've been challenged. 34 00:01:40,946 --> 00:01:43,174 And then we're following up Black History Month. 35 00:01:43,212 --> 00:01:44,702 It was Dana Edmunds. 36 00:01:44,726 --> 00:01:51,466 We did the podcast last week with the conferences, the regional conferences, and an amazing message. 37 00:01:51,528 --> 00:01:53,820 If you didn't catch that yet, please do. 38 00:01:54,210 --> 00:02:07,610 And then I'm like, are we going to be like the next thing that people are like, oh, no, there's another group of people that people are upset about or that people need help or that we're going to champion and maybe we're just tired. 39 00:02:07,670 --> 00:02:11,654 Maybe we have fatigue, like empathy fatigue. 40 00:02:11,702 --> 00:02:12,934 Maybe that's a good one. 41 00:02:13,092 --> 00:02:19,080 And so it made me a little bit nervous until we started the program. 42 00:02:19,890 --> 00:02:23,050 And then everything calmed down. 43 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:29,830 And then Carla made it to the stage and was giving a left handed sermon. 44 00:02:32,710 --> 00:02:35,234 Everything then came into focus. 45 00:02:35,332 --> 00:02:35,930 It did. 46 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:44,502 And so right now, shout out to all the lefties out there two of my favorite lefties, Alan and Tom and Carmen, a couple Ken here across the table. 47 00:02:44,586 --> 00:02:46,538 And Carla left handed people. 48 00:02:46,564 --> 00:02:47,766 So shout out to the lefties. 49 00:02:47,838 --> 00:02:53,598 I know some really amazing people in my life that are left handed. 50 00:02:53,754 --> 00:03:08,442 And we were really breaking down what it means for us to as we love people into a lifelong friendship with God and to really understand what that means and how we most authentically provide equal access in all areas of Church life and Ministry. 51 00:03:08,466 --> 00:03:15,974 I love how the opening sentence or the excuse me, the closing sentence of this week's message paragraph laid that out. 52 00:03:16,132 --> 00:03:20,790 And Carla went to a place in her message, which I was like, genius. 53 00:03:20,910 --> 00:03:22,202 I didn't know ahead of time. 54 00:03:22,336 --> 00:03:25,482 But all the parts of the body are a necessity. 55 00:03:25,566 --> 00:03:27,374 One is not more important than the other. 56 00:03:27,532 --> 00:03:30,030 You know, what good is an eye if it can't smell? 57 00:03:30,210 --> 00:03:32,646 No, that's the Randy paraphrase. 58 00:03:32,658 --> 00:03:35,294 So don't really Mark that down because that's not true at all. 59 00:03:35,332 --> 00:03:36,974 But it's in there sort of like that. 60 00:03:37,072 --> 00:03:47,522 But Carla, in your message, you broke down three things that we kind of as a no barriers committee feel are at the base of providing this atmosphere that just really allows everyone to thrive at whole life. 61 00:03:47,716 --> 00:03:52,780 And it was love, inclusion and belonging in that order. 62 00:03:53,170 --> 00:03:58,000 But if we love people in a lifelong friendship with God, aren't those three a given? 63 00:03:58,330 --> 00:04:00,520 Why did you break it down into those three? 64 00:04:02,230 --> 00:04:10,480 I think that love is just an easy thing to put out there, but I don't think we always take the time to think about the different steps we have to take to love someone. 65 00:04:10,870 --> 00:04:17,370 And so people come to our Church, they feel accepted, they feel included, but they don't feel like they belong. 66 00:04:17,490 --> 00:04:25,826 So what is that extra step that we can take to make sure that people do feel like they belong here is kind of what I was going for. 67 00:04:26,008 --> 00:04:27,038 I liked it. 68 00:04:27,184 --> 00:04:28,094 It was good. 69 00:04:28,252 --> 00:04:33,890 Well, you made in some reference that if you don't belong, then the first two really? 70 00:04:33,940 --> 00:04:40,830 I mean, can there be love if you don't belong and are you included, or do you feel like you're included if you don't feel like you belong? 71 00:04:40,890 --> 00:04:43,240 There's no way, really, those other two can work. 72 00:04:43,690 --> 00:04:48,590 But I heard someone say, isn't inclusion the same as participation? 73 00:04:49,090 --> 00:04:50,620 Isn't that the same thing? 74 00:04:51,250 --> 00:04:59,162 I think that inclusion and participation can have things in common, but I would say that there are two different things. 75 00:04:59,236 --> 00:05:01,660 I think inclusion is more on. 76 00:05:04,550 --> 00:05:07,458 I would say that participation is more on me. 77 00:05:07,544 --> 00:05:09,320 Inclusion is more on you. 78 00:05:10,490 --> 00:05:13,230 Participation is more on me. 79 00:05:13,340 --> 00:05:14,742 Inclusion is more on you. 80 00:05:14,816 --> 00:05:15,642 Oh, okay. 81 00:05:15,776 --> 00:05:17,662 Sorry. 82 00:05:17,856 --> 00:05:29,234 When it comes to inclusion, I would say that inclusion is the responsibility of the other of another person to do. 83 00:05:29,272 --> 00:05:40,420 It's my job to make sure that we're finding ways to include or to have inclusion for different people. 84 00:05:41,350 --> 00:05:46,514 On the other hand, participation tends to be more it's my job to go out and participate myself. 85 00:05:46,612 --> 00:05:50,562 I can invite other people to come participate, but it's more on me to go and participate. 86 00:05:50,646 --> 00:05:54,854 That's to me, one of the differences in the way I would define it. 87 00:05:54,952 --> 00:06:08,030 When I think of inclusion versus participation, I think of inclusion as people organizations are providing a way that anybody with any ability can participate. 88 00:06:10,690 --> 00:06:12,602 Within the realm that we're speaking of right now. 89 00:06:12,616 --> 00:06:20,498 The inclusion is a pretty important word because for years and years when it came to special needs communities, they were pulled out. 90 00:06:20,584 --> 00:06:29,390 They were pulled out and put into a separate classroom, into a separate group of people, and they were basically, hey, you're blind, hang out with other blind people. 91 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,406 Hey, you're deaf, hang out with other deaf people. 92 00:06:31,468 --> 00:06:34,960 Hey, whatever it is, go be over here. 93 00:06:35,290 --> 00:06:43,874 And my research has kind of come to the conclusion of and I'm grateful to be married to an educator who educates me. 94 00:06:44,032 --> 00:06:50,210 But basically, education and life happens better when you don't do that, when you actually take a person. 95 00:06:50,380 --> 00:06:52,298 And rather than saying, well, you're different. 96 00:06:52,384 --> 00:06:56,114 So go be around people that are different like you. 97 00:06:56,212 --> 00:06:58,334 Instead you say, yeah, you're different. 98 00:06:58,432 --> 00:06:59,390 That's okay. 99 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:12,318 We're going to figure out how to make it work with your differences in the group that we're in instead of saying, well, you just go somewhere else and play with a different group of people or different set of toys. 100 00:07:12,354 --> 00:07:21,230 And it's like, that would be like at whole life if we said, hey, we're really only a Church for people who don't have any physical disabilities. 101 00:07:21,910 --> 00:07:28,814 And if you have a physical disability, then you should go ahead and start your own Church for that. 102 00:07:28,972 --> 00:07:30,222 That would be terrible. 103 00:07:30,366 --> 00:07:31,682 That would not be who we are. 104 00:07:31,696 --> 00:07:33,098 It wouldn't be the spirit of what we do. 105 00:07:33,124 --> 00:07:43,046 Instead, we say, okay, if you're hearing impaired, how can we help you here in our services if your mobility is challenged in one way or another? 106 00:07:43,108 --> 00:07:46,502 What barriers can we get out of the way to help you with that? 107 00:07:46,696 --> 00:07:54,290 And these are things usually it's like Carla said when we were talking at the very beginning of concern about being left handed. 108 00:07:54,670 --> 00:08:09,026 Most people we live in a right handed world, and most people really have no idea the different things that as a lefthanded person I've gone through in my life, and I'm not believe me, it's like it's the least of problems that you could have. 109 00:08:09,088 --> 00:08:22,158 But I just don't remember that I would always smudge the life out of my handwriting papers, and I get my grade docked in handwriting in elementary school because my papers were smudged. 110 00:08:22,254 --> 00:08:27,554 Well, my right handed classmates didn't have that same problem. 111 00:08:27,652 --> 00:08:36,866 They never got their scores marked down because they're not dragging their hand across their paper because of the way that writing is set up. 112 00:08:36,988 --> 00:08:37,660 Right. 113 00:08:40,370 --> 00:08:44,266 And a teacher wouldn't necessarily think about that if they're right handed. 114 00:08:44,458 --> 00:08:46,510 They would just like, oh, he was being careless. 115 00:08:46,570 --> 00:08:47,720 And look at what happened. 116 00:08:48,470 --> 00:08:52,050 Inclusion says that the teacher go, oh, Ken's left handed. 117 00:08:52,550 --> 00:09:02,780 Let's go ahead and either, A, have some Grace here, or, B, let's go ahead and see if there's some ways around this, some ways to teach them how to not make that happen. 118 00:09:03,770 --> 00:09:10,026 And I think it's important for us to understand we don't always know what other people are going through. 119 00:09:10,088 --> 00:09:19,870 And that doesn't make us a bad person until, like Carla said, which, by the way, that's the quote that my wife went home with and just loved Carla. 120 00:09:19,930 --> 00:09:21,214 It was the Maya Angelo. 121 00:09:21,322 --> 00:09:21,702 Right. 122 00:09:21,776 --> 00:09:25,340 And you want to say it because I'll Butcher it if I do it. 123 00:09:25,670 --> 00:09:27,762 Do the best you can until you know better. 124 00:09:27,836 --> 00:09:29,082 And then once you know better. 125 00:09:29,156 --> 00:09:29,886 Do better. 126 00:09:30,008 --> 00:09:30,680 Yeah. 127 00:09:31,130 --> 00:09:32,098 Beautiful quote. 128 00:09:32,194 --> 00:09:33,294 And that's kind of the point. 129 00:09:33,332 --> 00:09:35,098 I think, that we're trying to make a Church. 130 00:09:35,134 --> 00:09:39,920 It's not that if you don't know something, you don't know, it you don't know to do better. 131 00:09:41,150 --> 00:09:47,182 What is better if you don't know that you don't know what it's like to try to do handwriting left handed. 132 00:09:47,206 --> 00:09:48,740 If you're right handed, that's okay. 133 00:09:49,310 --> 00:09:50,386 It hurts. 134 00:09:50,578 --> 00:09:52,386 But once you know, what can we do? 135 00:09:52,508 --> 00:09:52,950 I can. 136 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:54,990 It doesn't hurt to write left handed. 137 00:09:56,030 --> 00:09:56,478 I know. 138 00:09:56,504 --> 00:09:56,802 Right. 139 00:09:56,876 --> 00:09:59,322 But the point is, if you don't know, you don't know. 140 00:09:59,396 --> 00:09:59,778 Yeah. 141 00:09:59,864 --> 00:10:03,738 But the question is, are you looking to find out what somebody else is going through? 142 00:10:03,764 --> 00:10:08,446 Are you interested in another human being's experience that may not be like yours? 143 00:10:08,578 --> 00:10:09,260 Yeah. 144 00:10:10,130 --> 00:10:29,598 Everything I heard from all three of you was basically what we're talking about here is like, empathetic teamwork, just being aware of the fact that we aren't the same in that small differences, even just like, as simple as the smudging of the paper from a left handed student is enough to at least make somebody go, that's not fair. 145 00:10:29,744 --> 00:10:37,374 Like, why am I the person getting picked on just because this is how I write and this is who I am. 146 00:10:37,532 --> 00:10:46,182 And so the teamwork with the Church and just like, people being open to the idea of, yeah, we're all different. 147 00:10:46,256 --> 00:10:47,540 Let's do this together. 148 00:10:47,930 --> 00:10:56,478 I like that a lot, because if you missed the inclusion and participation piece of it, I feel like a lot of people are lost right there. 149 00:10:56,624 --> 00:10:57,680 I don't understand. 150 00:10:58,550 --> 00:11:01,150 Well, if you're participating, you're included. 151 00:11:01,210 --> 00:11:06,800 So what are we arguing about, or what is there to maybe go further into? 152 00:11:07,910 --> 00:11:15,214 And then a question came through that I thought was interesting, what is the church's role in providing support for families and individuals with disabilities? 153 00:11:15,262 --> 00:11:34,518 I know our panel answered that question, but I wanted to break it to apart a little bit further in that is, what's the role maybe together, because I think if you just assume it's a Church problem, that they're not providing something, I'm not sure that that's the total question to ask. 154 00:11:34,604 --> 00:11:43,446 And yet as a family with someone with special needs, there's often times a feeling of, I can't do one more thing. 155 00:11:43,568 --> 00:11:56,850 I literally can't do one more thing this week or like everything in the universe that I know that I'm balancing in all these plates, it's going to crash, it's going to fall. 156 00:11:57,020 --> 00:12:00,322 And so I think that's the part that maybe we don't. 157 00:12:00,466 --> 00:12:01,942 And it's really hard to communicate. 158 00:12:01,966 --> 00:12:09,042 So I know this is a difficult question, but it's really hard to try to convey that to someone like, you don't know what you don't know. 159 00:12:09,056 --> 00:12:15,762 And we're not asking you to feel something that it's impossible for you to feel if it's not your situation. 160 00:12:15,896 --> 00:12:21,618 But I feel like there's got to be some kind of way we can help people understand that. 161 00:12:21,644 --> 00:12:30,538 It's not an expectation necessarily when you feel somebody come alongside of you, it's a great feeling. 162 00:12:30,694 --> 00:12:34,798 And so how do we find those relationships? 163 00:12:34,834 --> 00:12:42,270 Maybe that benefit the person that figures out, man, they really do struggle with whatever it is in that situation. 164 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:56,274 And then the other person says, wow, someone listened to me, and then they actually did something that made even if it's just my day, sometimes I'm telling you, if you make somebody's day better, that's struggling like that, that's a huge thing. 165 00:12:56,312 --> 00:12:57,690 So what do you think? 166 00:12:57,860 --> 00:13:01,782 Am I totally crazy or how do we explain this maybe better than I'm doing? 167 00:13:01,856 --> 00:13:04,446 Well, I think you're asking two things. 168 00:13:04,568 --> 00:13:14,070 You're asking if we're calling people and we're bringing awareness to people about what other people with disabilities in our Church. 169 00:13:14,390 --> 00:13:17,838 You're asking, does everybody have to do this? 170 00:13:17,984 --> 00:13:20,300 Does everybody have to come alongside of us? 171 00:13:21,590 --> 00:13:26,850 The expectation that everybody needs to get on board with this. 172 00:13:27,020 --> 00:13:27,318 Right. 173 00:13:27,344 --> 00:13:28,554 And everybody needs to help. 174 00:13:28,592 --> 00:13:30,670 And I think that's not the expectation. 175 00:13:30,790 --> 00:13:40,170 The expectation is we are opening the door for people to walk through who feel compelled to do that. 176 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:48,018 There's people at our Church, our Church is really amazing that have come alongside of us and just accepted Emily and accepted us. 177 00:13:48,164 --> 00:13:49,626 And every week going, it's okay. 178 00:13:49,688 --> 00:13:50,766 We're so glad you're here. 179 00:13:50,828 --> 00:13:52,422 And that's all they said. 180 00:13:52,616 --> 00:13:56,000 And it has been a place of welcoming and love. 181 00:13:57,170 --> 00:14:02,214 So I think we're just kind of trying to let people know that we're here. 182 00:14:02,312 --> 00:14:03,234 It's okay. 183 00:14:03,392 --> 00:14:12,162 And we want to be that community to other people that are not coming to Church because they don't feel that and they've never felt that anywhere else. 184 00:14:12,356 --> 00:14:19,398 And it's a part of our theme this year arise to me, this year is kind of an awareness here. 185 00:14:19,424 --> 00:14:22,290 It's like, hey, these are some of the things that we're doing here at whole life. 186 00:14:22,340 --> 00:14:24,198 These are some of the things that are going on. 187 00:14:24,344 --> 00:14:26,382 Are you called to do every single one of them? 188 00:14:26,456 --> 00:14:27,234 No way. 189 00:14:27,392 --> 00:14:32,790 I'm not called to do every single one of them, much to some people's concerns. 190 00:14:33,290 --> 00:14:44,154 But the point is that we all have our passion areas and things that and what we're trying to do is expose the Church to a lot of different opportunities and things that are going on. 191 00:14:44,312 --> 00:14:47,718 And if you hear God's call on you for that thing, listen to God's call. 192 00:14:47,744 --> 00:14:53,770 And if you don't think, well, I'm glad somebody else had an opportunity to hear something that maybe was useful. 193 00:14:53,830 --> 00:14:57,906 And I suspect that anybody who came to Church this week walked away learning something. 194 00:14:58,088 --> 00:14:58,614 Sure. 195 00:14:58,712 --> 00:15:17,420 Maybe it's not that they're going to be offering respite care or they're going to be helping fund this, but maybe it's like, hey, I didn't know this, and I learned something more about those with disabilities and things like that is a good time for me to ask a question that did. 196 00:15:17,990 --> 00:15:19,662 Yeah, let's sprinkle them in. 197 00:15:19,856 --> 00:15:22,770 I think this is kind of a little relevant to what we're at at the moment. 198 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:24,478 This one comes from Nashville. 199 00:15:24,514 --> 00:15:30,118 Tim and Tim asked, words are powerful and can be damaging. 200 00:15:30,154 --> 00:15:35,540 What are some common words or phrases that can be offensive within this community? 201 00:15:36,590 --> 00:15:37,210 Ouch. 202 00:15:37,330 --> 00:15:38,000 Yeah. 203 00:15:38,570 --> 00:15:39,738 I thought it was a really good question. 204 00:15:39,764 --> 00:15:43,042 I was sad that I didn't see it in time to get it into the panel. 205 00:15:43,126 --> 00:15:50,022 I think it's such a relevant thing, and a lot of us don't know what the right words are or may or may not be. 206 00:15:50,156 --> 00:16:01,638 I would say that, like growing up, most of the playground words that you used to call kids that were meant to be hurtful, those all apply basically today in many ways. 207 00:16:01,784 --> 00:16:08,322 And in our community, speaking of just us, is retarded the R word. 208 00:16:08,396 --> 00:16:15,838 And there's been national campaigns done by the down syndrome Association, Nabs, the National Association, down syndrome. 209 00:16:15,994 --> 00:16:20,970 And that's just a no no in our community. 210 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:31,270 And just speaking specifically, which down syndrome is a smaller community, if you're talking about things like autism and spectrum autism and things of that nature. 211 00:16:31,330 --> 00:16:33,690 But it's not downs. 212 00:16:34,130 --> 00:16:37,290 Ever downs. 213 00:16:37,610 --> 00:16:38,950 Does your daughter have downs? 214 00:16:39,010 --> 00:16:40,280 I don't know what that is. 215 00:16:40,790 --> 00:16:46,066 The doctor that discovered it was Doctor down, and it is a syndrome. 216 00:16:46,198 --> 00:16:47,910 So don't bring the s into the down. 217 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:49,530 It is down syndrome. 218 00:16:52,590 --> 00:16:53,798 So down syndrome. 219 00:16:53,834 --> 00:16:54,562 No s on. 220 00:16:54,636 --> 00:16:57,506 No today. 221 00:16:57,628 --> 00:16:58,214 I'll be honest. 222 00:16:58,252 --> 00:17:02,140 I don't know how many people that just maybe it's us. 223 00:17:03,190 --> 00:17:04,334 I doubt it. 224 00:17:04,492 --> 00:17:08,954 I think it's infuriating when you know something and it's just not said the right way. 225 00:17:08,992 --> 00:17:11,330 It's like somebody calling me Wetmore. 226 00:17:12,250 --> 00:17:13,362 It's Wetmore. 227 00:17:13,506 --> 00:17:13,922 Yeah. 228 00:17:13,996 --> 00:17:15,686 I would say to speak to that. 229 00:17:15,748 --> 00:17:16,010 Okay. 230 00:17:16,060 --> 00:17:21,102 So we're speaking specifically to down syndrome because that's our journey. 231 00:17:21,126 --> 00:17:22,010 That's where we're at. 232 00:17:22,120 --> 00:17:22,862 Yes. 233 00:17:23,056 --> 00:17:25,302 Downs is very derogatory. 234 00:17:25,446 --> 00:17:29,980 And not just to Randy and I, but in the community it is. 235 00:17:31,210 --> 00:17:35,810 But also I want to speak to the whole community as a whole. 236 00:17:35,980 --> 00:17:37,950 It's people first language. 237 00:17:38,130 --> 00:17:43,574 So when you're addressing somebody with a disability, it's not. 238 00:17:43,672 --> 00:17:46,338 Oh, I know a person in a wheelchair. 239 00:17:46,494 --> 00:17:48,390 I know Carla. 240 00:17:48,510 --> 00:17:49,554 She's in a wheelchair. 241 00:17:49,602 --> 00:17:50,138 Right. 242 00:17:50,284 --> 00:17:53,178 Emily has down syndrome. 243 00:17:53,214 --> 00:17:55,442 She's not a down syndrome child. 244 00:17:55,636 --> 00:17:56,834 She's not someone with down. 245 00:17:56,872 --> 00:17:58,074 She has down syndrome. 246 00:17:58,122 --> 00:18:04,686 But the syndrome does not define her or autistic. 247 00:18:04,758 --> 00:18:05,210 Right. 248 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:06,162 She's downs. 249 00:18:06,246 --> 00:18:07,730 And it's like, what is that? 250 00:18:07,780 --> 00:18:12,950 No, he's autistic or he has autism. 251 00:18:13,570 --> 00:18:21,278 So you're talking and you're labeling the person as a person and then whatever disability that they have. 252 00:18:21,364 --> 00:18:31,998 Especially one of the things that I thought was kind of neat about whole life in general when I arrived is that they've kind of gone with that people first philosophy within the Church. 253 00:18:32,034 --> 00:18:33,090 So it's not doctor. 254 00:18:33,150 --> 00:18:34,602 Soandso it's. 255 00:18:34,626 --> 00:18:35,970 Soandso who is a doctor? 256 00:18:36,030 --> 00:18:37,338 And it's not Pastor Ken. 257 00:18:37,374 --> 00:18:39,758 It's Ken who is the senior pastor at all. 258 00:18:39,844 --> 00:18:40,562 Right. 259 00:18:40,756 --> 00:18:44,390 And so it's that people first idea that we're a human being first. 260 00:18:44,500 --> 00:18:53,066 We're not defined by the labels that often will be put in front of people's names that either give them status or take away status in life. 261 00:18:53,248 --> 00:18:54,458 So I like that. 262 00:18:54,484 --> 00:18:57,950 And I think that's a good reminder because I think I can speak for myself. 263 00:18:58,000 --> 00:18:59,558 I have a hard time remembering to do that. 264 00:18:59,584 --> 00:19:02,258 I'll often put something in front of them. 265 00:19:02,344 --> 00:19:03,242 Yeah, it's easy. 266 00:19:03,316 --> 00:19:05,406 I mean, I think it's just our culture. 267 00:19:05,478 --> 00:19:07,910 And so this is about bringing awareness. 268 00:19:08,290 --> 00:19:08,886 Hi, Carla. 269 00:19:08,898 --> 00:19:09,782 I wonder about you. 270 00:19:09,856 --> 00:19:17,634 Are there any phrases or words within those who don't have mobility that are frowned upon? 271 00:19:17,682 --> 00:19:22,394 Or is there a better way to say and some people be like, oh, what's the big deal about saying that? 272 00:19:22,432 --> 00:19:27,338 Well, my thing is if it offends somebody, why would you want to say it even if you don't think it's a big deal? 273 00:19:27,364 --> 00:19:30,986 If it's a big deal, then why wouldn't you just want to do it the right way? 274 00:19:31,048 --> 00:19:32,822 Do it the way that makes them feel good. 275 00:19:32,956 --> 00:19:35,798 So is there anything in your community that should be thought about? 276 00:19:35,944 --> 00:19:42,700 I think sometimes when people call you crippled or crippled, I haven't had that ever happen. 277 00:19:43,090 --> 00:19:46,670 But I know people who I follow have had that happen. 278 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:47,702 They don't appreciate it. 279 00:19:47,716 --> 00:19:48,940 So that would be one. 280 00:19:49,750 --> 00:20:03,650 But another thing to your question, and I think it's not completely related, but I think that talking about people's first language, I've had people in elevator rides, which is like, what a 1020 2nd ride? 281 00:20:03,970 --> 00:20:08,450 Before they even ask me my name, they'll say, hey, why are you in a wheelchair? 282 00:20:09,310 --> 00:20:21,820 And so that's something where you have to realize that when you ask a question about someone's child or about someone's disability, you are potentially entering the most fragile area of this person's life. 283 00:20:22,150 --> 00:20:26,174 And so we kind of discussed this on Sabbath with one of the questions. 284 00:20:26,272 --> 00:20:33,386 But when you're asking somebody a question, you need to check yourself as to why you're asking. 285 00:20:33,568 --> 00:20:40,358 Is it because you're just curious and you just want to know, or is it because you truly care about the person, you want to help them? 286 00:20:40,384 --> 00:20:42,386 And I think that is so important. 287 00:20:42,568 --> 00:20:52,646 When you go into starting conversations with people about how do I start a conversation with this person is you have to be ready to follow up with what they say. 288 00:20:52,768 --> 00:20:54,554 And I think that is super important. 289 00:20:54,652 --> 00:20:58,780 So it's a little spin off of what you're saying, but what's appropriate and what's not. 290 00:20:59,830 --> 00:21:01,120 That's super good. 291 00:21:01,750 --> 00:21:02,858 Can I play off of that? 292 00:21:02,884 --> 00:21:06,640 Yeah, I'm going to take it a little bit farther, if that's okay. 293 00:21:07,990 --> 00:21:19,746 I have people who will come up to me in the grocery store or when we first had Emily, even now and we'll say, you're so blessed God chose you to have Emily. 294 00:21:19,938 --> 00:21:23,200 And the list goes on and on or, oh, I'm so sorry. 295 00:21:25,330 --> 00:21:31,000 Again, that sensitivity and just being aware of what you're actually coming into. 296 00:21:31,330 --> 00:21:36,782 So we do need to be careful and not make assumptions about the situation. 297 00:21:36,976 --> 00:21:38,462 And I can reply to anything. 298 00:21:38,536 --> 00:21:43,240 But it's very delicate in the disabled community. 299 00:21:44,710 --> 00:21:48,760 Probably from that person's standpoint, they're meaning well with what they're trying to say. 300 00:21:51,950 --> 00:21:55,340 I'm sure it doesn't feel like a blessing every day, right. 301 00:21:55,730 --> 00:21:57,894 To have to go through the things at the same time. 302 00:21:57,932 --> 00:22:03,620 It's not like you're wishing that away either, but that would be a pretty. 303 00:22:05,570 --> 00:22:20,070 And sometimes when it's prefaced with, I have a grandchild that has down syndrome or my child, or you see them with their child and they'll come up to you, it's different because you're like, oh, you're on this. 304 00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:21,342 You get it right? 305 00:22:21,476 --> 00:22:23,610 So you know, that where they're coming from. 306 00:22:23,660 --> 00:22:27,380 And I'm sure the same thing can be said of any situation. 307 00:22:27,950 --> 00:22:34,062 But that's even true of people that may have the same diagnosis in our community. 308 00:22:34,256 --> 00:22:46,962 It's not a secret that Emily has down syndrome, because typically people with down syndrome, it's very easy to see that they recognizable, right, that they have down syndrome, and everyone knows what that looks like. 309 00:22:47,096 --> 00:22:56,600 But you can also even if you're in the community, you can easily offend somebody else who's not in the same place in the journey that you're at. 310 00:22:59,930 --> 00:23:08,490 I had a client once who had seen pictures of Emily on my wall at my desk every time he came to see me. 311 00:23:08,540 --> 00:23:10,666 And then him and his wife were pregnant. 312 00:23:10,738 --> 00:23:15,414 And all of a sudden, I don't see this person for, like, ever. 313 00:23:15,572 --> 00:23:16,702 They're not doing their checkups. 314 00:23:16,726 --> 00:23:18,462 They're not doing all the stuff they're supposed to do. 315 00:23:18,596 --> 00:23:25,762 And it's like we ended up going to an event together, and this person was also a doctor. 316 00:23:25,846 --> 00:23:31,294 So I'm sure that didn't help, but very upset, bitter. 317 00:23:31,402 --> 00:23:33,442 I don't want to be part of this club devastated. 318 00:23:33,526 --> 00:23:35,298 I didn't sign up for any of this. 319 00:23:35,444 --> 00:23:37,570 And so you have to be very careful. 320 00:23:37,630 --> 00:23:49,738 And then over time as they watch, but at the same time they were watching and seeing, and then later on, it was like, oh, yeah, maybe I didn't want to be part of the club. 321 00:23:49,774 --> 00:24:00,954 But now that I also see there's the real uniqueness and the love that people with down syndrome generally share at will with you, it becomes better. 322 00:24:00,992 --> 00:24:05,554 But it's just also we don't even know sometimes tread lightly. 323 00:24:05,662 --> 00:24:07,474 Just the look in your eyes, the intent. 324 00:24:07,522 --> 00:24:09,358 I think it was on the panel. 325 00:24:09,394 --> 00:24:12,198 And if you didn't see the message yet, please go back and look. 326 00:24:12,224 --> 00:24:16,978 There was a lot of good questions that we're not going to ask today and a lot of good responses. 327 00:24:17,014 --> 00:24:20,134 We had some professionals, Eddie Martinez. 328 00:24:20,242 --> 00:24:21,982 And then who is Angela Samson? 329 00:24:22,006 --> 00:24:22,762 Angela Samson. 330 00:24:22,786 --> 00:24:32,610 They had some really good points from people that live in it every single day, and they're not living the journey themselves, but they live with all the families and try to help them through. 331 00:24:32,660 --> 00:24:35,814 So please don't miss that part of the message as well. 332 00:24:35,852 --> 00:24:38,326 That was the panel discussion. 333 00:24:38,398 --> 00:24:47,960 I think one of the other offensive things that we ought to probably highlight that kind of goes along with the inclusion talk that we were talking about a little bit earlier is the assumption of what somebody can't do. 334 00:24:48,470 --> 00:24:49,220 Right. 335 00:24:50,450 --> 00:24:57,358 That happens an awful lot in all the communities that have disabilities. 336 00:24:57,454 --> 00:25:01,678 That when I was a summer camp director, we ran a camp for the blind. 337 00:25:01,834 --> 00:25:16,110 It was one of the things that we tried to drill home to our team was don't assume that the people cannot do things for themselves or that you kind of come into some kind of paternalistic. 338 00:25:16,490 --> 00:25:17,540 Oh, here. 339 00:25:18,410 --> 00:25:19,614 Is that something that. 340 00:25:19,712 --> 00:25:21,620 Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. 341 00:25:22,190 --> 00:25:30,342 And I think that's something we're going to be addressing, I think, and working on so that we're not making those assumptions of what somebody can't do. 342 00:25:30,476 --> 00:25:35,862 But that they can do things very smart people don't know what they don't know. 343 00:25:35,996 --> 00:25:43,290 People in the medical community when Emily was born almost twelve years ago have been wrong on every single thing. 344 00:25:43,340 --> 00:25:50,362 About 10% of what they told us to expect within hours of her birth have not come to fruition. 345 00:25:50,506 --> 00:25:55,230 Have are largely based in antiquated medicine. 346 00:25:55,970 --> 00:26:01,494 Things that the same people that would tell you just send them to a home, you don't need to take them home with you. 347 00:26:01,652 --> 00:26:08,086 And people literally look at you if you say that, they don't say that anymore. 348 00:26:08,218 --> 00:26:10,086 And it's like, yeah, they do. 349 00:26:10,268 --> 00:26:11,334 We lived through it. 350 00:26:11,372 --> 00:26:19,400 And so you think it's not a big problem until you just like we've said over and over, you don't know what you don't know. 351 00:26:20,450 --> 00:26:24,918 And on our part, I think there's also what's the word I want to use? 352 00:26:25,064 --> 00:26:50,206 There's a part that we play to be responsible and to be kind, even when sometimes we don't want to be, because I also feel like if you are just going to snap or you're going to rip somebody's face off for using the wrong word or the terminology, then all you've done is taking someone who is probably not pro you anyway or pro your family or person that has the disability. 353 00:26:50,398 --> 00:26:54,560 And now you've just pushed them even farther off going, see, I knew I didn't like those people. 354 00:26:55,730 --> 00:26:59,840 They weren't nice to me, and I was just trying to ask a question, and they just totally lost it. 355 00:27:00,230 --> 00:27:02,326 But if we do that also give us Grace. 356 00:27:02,398 --> 00:27:04,906 We do play a part because we have to advocate. 357 00:27:04,978 --> 00:27:05,250 Right. 358 00:27:05,300 --> 00:27:07,470 So we have to advocate with love. 359 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:08,334 Yeah. 360 00:27:08,492 --> 00:27:18,138 I think that probably one of the things that we all need to think about in general is we don't know what's happening in any given person's day on any given day. 361 00:27:18,164 --> 00:27:18,390 Right. 362 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:18,906 Yeah. 363 00:27:19,028 --> 00:27:25,098 It's easy to see somebody gain snapping and whatever else and just say all that. 364 00:27:25,184 --> 00:27:32,586 Just quickly label them as a rude person instead of saying, hey, maybe it's been a pretty rough week. 365 00:27:32,648 --> 00:27:35,720 Maybe there's been a lot going on in their life I'm not aware of. 366 00:27:36,350 --> 00:27:57,642 And that's one of the things I think especially comes is true in the life of people who have disabilities and their families is that there's a lot going on underneath the surface outside looking in have no idea about what happened before Church began. 367 00:27:57,726 --> 00:28:00,110 What happened when Church began. 368 00:28:02,830 --> 00:28:13,360 As a parent, I can tell you that as a pastor, there's been some Sabbath where somebody said something really hurtful to my child, and I had to get up and preach ten minutes later. 369 00:28:13,870 --> 00:28:33,220 And it is, for me, ridiculously hard to kind of pull myself together, try to be a professional, do my job, when I just know that my child just got hurt and I want to go find somebody, or worse yet, they're sitting there, you can see them. 370 00:28:34,570 --> 00:28:36,770 Then your sermon takes on a whole new meaning. 371 00:28:38,890 --> 00:28:41,070 Is that the weeks when you pray. 372 00:28:41,130 --> 00:28:43,382 That'S when I look at you very directly, just so you know. 373 00:28:43,396 --> 00:28:46,418 Now and then you say, God, please speak through me. 374 00:28:46,444 --> 00:28:48,386 But my words may not be my words. 375 00:28:48,568 --> 00:28:50,150 That's why I say that every week. 376 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:59,894 Actually, it's one of the joys of having your children growing up a little bit too, is that they're a little bit more on their own. 377 00:28:59,932 --> 00:29:03,114 This is probably more of an issue when they were smaller and whatnot. 378 00:29:03,162 --> 00:29:11,090 But I just go to that and I just think about what a lot of people go through during their week, and we just have no idea. 379 00:29:11,140 --> 00:29:19,058 And that's across the board for people, no matter where you're coming from in life, there's often a lot of things. 380 00:29:19,144 --> 00:29:26,210 You can even look at people that you think are pretty wealthy and well off, and you think, what do they have to worry about? 381 00:29:26,260 --> 00:29:33,662 And you don't know that they're actually way in debt and they don't know how they're going to get out of this, that or another. 382 00:29:33,736 --> 00:29:47,394 And so I think we all would probably do well just to continue doing what whole life talks about doing and showing Grace and saying, hey, if somebody gets snappy with me, I'll choose to not be taking it personally. 383 00:29:47,442 --> 00:29:49,720 And I'll try to love that person. 384 00:29:50,110 --> 00:29:51,098 Yeah, I agree. 385 00:29:51,184 --> 00:30:23,366 I do want to say not to say what you're saying is wrong, but I say if you take that and you take that to every person, and then you think about a family that has a child with a disability or even an individual living with some sort of disability, and you think if somebody's having a hard time, say financially, if you apply that to a family that has a special needs child or living with a disability, it's probably three times as worse that they're living on a daily basis because they have three times as much more things to deal with. 386 00:30:23,488 --> 00:30:25,358 No, I can totally understand that. 387 00:30:25,384 --> 00:30:27,926 I think that's a good add on to what we're saying. 388 00:30:27,988 --> 00:30:31,840 I mean, there are levels of difficulty in life. 389 00:30:33,130 --> 00:30:53,994 And someone asked if we were just caught me in the hall in between first and second, this past week and kind of asked a question that is it just about people with diagnosis that we know about, like Emily or like, with Carla being up on stage, being right there, obviously, she's in a wheelchair. 390 00:30:54,042 --> 00:30:55,038 Emily has down syndrome. 391 00:30:55,074 --> 00:30:56,522 We can recognize that. 392 00:30:56,716 --> 00:31:09,422 And I think part of it and something that we've talked a lot about within the committee that meets together is that we know families personally that don't come to Church because they don't feel it's a safe place. 393 00:31:09,496 --> 00:31:15,602 And those are people that we know that already have diagnosis for their loved ones. 394 00:31:15,796 --> 00:31:19,338 And how many kids we often know there's a lot of kids that don't have a diagnosis. 395 00:31:19,374 --> 00:31:25,106 So if we change the culture, I think that's part and I don't know if we got to that or if we had enough time to get to that in the Church service. 396 00:31:25,168 --> 00:31:42,986 But there are so many people in our midst that if we change the culture to this inclusion, that will help people that we know about, think of all the people that were all of a sudden helping, that we would have never known ever that we were helping or know how to help. 397 00:31:43,168 --> 00:31:46,814 But we're probably catching a lot of the things that will also help them. 398 00:31:46,852 --> 00:31:56,054 And I hope that brings them the comfort and peace and knows that their Church community, their Church family loves them. 399 00:31:56,212 --> 00:32:04,830 And that if it's ever a time when that diagnosis comes that we're all here to stand by and be a part of your life and your journey. 400 00:32:04,950 --> 00:32:07,406 And so I thought it was a really good question. 401 00:32:07,468 --> 00:32:15,710 It's one that's not easy to ask when you're asking the dad of the girl who couldn't pull prayer off in first service but nailed it in second services. 402 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:16,118 You know what? 403 00:32:16,144 --> 00:32:19,734 In my mind, she pulled it off as far as I'm concerned. 404 00:32:19,842 --> 00:32:33,938 And I think it was to me, I know that we had staff meeting this morning, and somebody said that particular part of the service is the part that just hit them the most. 405 00:32:34,084 --> 00:32:39,714 That was where God really touched them the most was watching himly do the prayer. 406 00:32:39,822 --> 00:32:43,038 And it was very meaningful. 407 00:32:43,134 --> 00:32:49,420 And to me, it is what Church should be. 408 00:32:49,930 --> 00:32:55,778 That Church is an opportunity for all of us to engage and be a part of. 409 00:32:55,864 --> 00:32:57,950 And I thought it was beautiful. 410 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:00,194 I thought it was beautiful both services. 411 00:33:00,352 --> 00:33:00,782 Yeah. 412 00:33:00,856 --> 00:33:04,578 I mean, it was a victory, but there's a silver lining. 413 00:33:04,614 --> 00:33:07,646 And then there's always the underlying after first service. 414 00:33:07,708 --> 00:33:13,778 It was really tough on Ellie to help her through it because she was embarrassed and she was like she said. 415 00:33:13,804 --> 00:33:15,566 To be disappointed in herself as well. 416 00:33:15,628 --> 00:33:15,926 Yeah. 417 00:33:15,988 --> 00:33:19,554 And I said she was upset. 418 00:33:19,602 --> 00:33:21,614 She was crying on my shoulder when she came down. 419 00:33:21,652 --> 00:33:25,418 And so we were kind of thinking, like maybe we wouldn't have her try for second service. 420 00:33:25,504 --> 00:33:26,474 And then see. 421 00:33:26,632 --> 00:33:36,962 And I said, sweetie, I said, all you did was show people how to love and be patient with Emily when she knows she can do it and she's done it, she practiced it. 422 00:33:37,096 --> 00:33:42,050 And she just needs someone there sometimes to either speak the words or as in the next one, OK. 423 00:33:42,100 --> 00:33:45,374 Now I know someone is going to be there and they're going to walk me through it. 424 00:33:45,412 --> 00:33:48,014 I can do it this time with just even a little less help. 425 00:33:48,052 --> 00:34:03,602 And so I thought it was a unique opportunity that people could see that Ellie some people also saw that and asked if Ellie was okay and she was once she had a chance to look at it. 426 00:34:03,616 --> 00:34:12,162 But those are the things where if you put yourself out there, we tend to think that God's going to bless you and not that he doesn't. 427 00:34:12,306 --> 00:34:14,294 But sometimes it doesn't come in the way you think. 428 00:34:14,332 --> 00:34:18,098 And it's not always Sunshine and roses either. 429 00:34:18,184 --> 00:34:21,062 Well, I hope you let only know she did a fantastic job. 430 00:34:21,256 --> 00:34:21,974 We did. 431 00:34:22,072 --> 00:34:29,094 Emily is very fortunate to have Ellie for an older sister. 432 00:34:29,262 --> 00:34:32,274 She is a phenomenal human being and vice versa. 433 00:34:32,322 --> 00:34:38,440 Ellie knows she knows she's pretty lucky to have a sister who just wants to love her all the time. 434 00:34:38,830 --> 00:34:44,966 So I actually asked one or two questions, and you guys have, like, just picked them off my list one at a time. 435 00:34:45,028 --> 00:34:46,346 So you've been doing a good job. 436 00:34:46,408 --> 00:34:48,170 Do you have any more that came through? 437 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:54,834 I was looking through the list and I've actually been covered all the ones that came in that weren't covered by the panel. 438 00:34:54,882 --> 00:34:55,542 That weren't by the panel. 439 00:34:55,566 --> 00:34:55,718 Okay. 440 00:34:55,744 --> 00:34:58,038 Because I checked both Facebook and chat roll. 441 00:34:58,074 --> 00:35:01,660 Just checking you guys, because we've missed some in the past. 442 00:35:02,170 --> 00:35:07,934 There was only one, and I think we asked it, but I just wanted to hit on it real quick. 443 00:35:08,092 --> 00:35:11,814 And the question was, for 30 years, we've been doing our vision and mission. 444 00:35:11,862 --> 00:35:14,810 Why does the Church care about disabilities now? 445 00:35:14,980 --> 00:35:18,350 And this one just really just got me going. 446 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:20,654 I was on the front row and I'm just like, no, I've got the answer. 447 00:35:20,692 --> 00:35:21,506 I've got the answer. 448 00:35:21,628 --> 00:35:23,666 Pick me like, no, don't raise your hand. 449 00:35:23,728 --> 00:35:25,110 No, don't walk up onto the stage. 450 00:35:25,170 --> 00:35:26,594 We already have panel people in place. 451 00:35:26,632 --> 00:35:27,578 This is not your time. 452 00:35:27,664 --> 00:35:28,526 Sit down. 453 00:35:28,708 --> 00:35:35,066 And I thought that there's a couple of reasons, and I just wanted to point them out because, again, you don't know what you don't know. 454 00:35:35,188 --> 00:35:39,062 But people with disabilities have been hidden in the background for so long. 455 00:35:39,136 --> 00:35:43,694 And as a general rule, this isn't obviously not across the board. 456 00:35:43,852 --> 00:35:44,874 There's a general rule. 457 00:35:44,922 --> 00:35:46,890 People with disabilities don't come to Church. 458 00:35:47,010 --> 00:35:48,522 Their families don't bring them to Church. 459 00:35:48,546 --> 00:35:49,540 It's too difficult. 460 00:35:50,530 --> 00:35:59,690 There's a million reasons why there is everything from unsafe churches, which we've been a part of in the past, where it just wasn't a safe place for Emily. 461 00:36:00,250 --> 00:36:08,570 Nobody enjoys getting dirty looks when they go to Church because your child has a disability if we don't stand for the least of these. 462 00:36:08,740 --> 00:36:10,974 The first stop that came in my mind was Matthew 25. 463 00:36:10,994 --> 00:36:15,962 And I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. 464 00:36:16,096 --> 00:36:20,260 And that broke my heart from the get go. 465 00:36:23,270 --> 00:36:29,374 When you attend a Church that doesn't and the whole life has done so much for our family. 466 00:36:29,472 --> 00:36:37,930 The first weekend that we dropped her off, I mean, the first day we went to BBS years ago, six years ago, July will be six years, I think. 467 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:41,038 And Ellie got in the car and she was like, she was crying a little bit. 468 00:36:41,064 --> 00:36:42,514 And I'm like, what's matter? 469 00:36:42,672 --> 00:36:45,770 And she's like, dad, they were so nice to Emily. 470 00:36:45,830 --> 00:36:46,822 You cannot believe it. 471 00:36:46,836 --> 00:36:53,338 They were just championing her and people were coming up and helping and just like, she just thought it was the coolest thing. 472 00:36:53,364 --> 00:37:00,130 But it really tugged in our heartstrings because that hadn't been our journey with Church. 473 00:37:04,390 --> 00:37:06,182 That's the case with a lot of people. 474 00:37:06,316 --> 00:37:09,520 Yes, I think that's why we want to do this. 475 00:37:10,090 --> 00:37:19,060 But I think I took that question a little bit differently than you would, as I naturally would, because I'm coming from a very different place than you are. 476 00:37:19,930 --> 00:37:20,534 For me. 477 00:37:20,572 --> 00:37:24,746 That was kind of the spirit of what the person was saying is, hey, aren't we doing a good job loving people? 478 00:37:24,808 --> 00:37:29,394 Haven't we doing that? 479 00:37:29,432 --> 00:37:38,838 And why are we is there something I don't know about that's going on here, where that's kind of the way I read it was like, is there something going on that I wasn't aware of? 480 00:37:38,864 --> 00:37:41,178 Because I thought we were doing a pretty good job at that. 481 00:37:41,324 --> 00:37:48,920 And what I would say on that one is I think whole life is doing a good job in a lot of ways. 482 00:37:49,730 --> 00:37:54,260 And I think that with certain disabilities, we do better than with other ones. 483 00:37:56,430 --> 00:38:03,146 I think a lot of times in Church it will also have to do with how well you're known. 484 00:38:03,278 --> 00:38:21,442 For instance, if you have a strong friend group inside the Church and you have a disability or someone that you love has a disability, oftentimes that friend group will really rally around that person or that group and just kind of come around and surround and really be there. 485 00:38:21,576 --> 00:38:27,610 But the question is what's happening for the person who walks in off the street, who doesn't have a friend group to start off with? 486 00:38:27,660 --> 00:38:29,134 Do they have that? 487 00:38:29,292 --> 00:38:34,930 And I think that you kind of mentioned that when you came in that there was a good reception to that. 488 00:38:34,980 --> 00:38:41,926 But at the same time, you have shared things with me that would be helpful if we did a little bit better than we're doing right now. 489 00:38:41,988 --> 00:38:50,640 And that's I think the point of what we're trying to go with this is it's not that whole life is not a loving place, not a Graceville place. 490 00:38:51,210 --> 00:38:55,234 It's how can we take what we're doing to the next level? 491 00:38:55,332 --> 00:39:07,214 And part of that is making sure that all of our Church members have a certain level of awareness about what's going on in the world when it comes to this particular topic. 492 00:39:07,262 --> 00:39:13,538 It's like the week before when we talked about the black experience in Adventist churches. 493 00:39:13,574 --> 00:39:19,618 Through the years, I have had very well educated, very smart people come up to me and say I had no idea. 494 00:39:19,644 --> 00:39:21,310 No, I had no idea. 495 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:23,686 That was something I knew nothing about. 496 00:39:23,868 --> 00:39:30,502 And I'd like to think that if people were paying attention in churches last Sabbath, they would say they're saying the same thing. 497 00:39:30,516 --> 00:39:31,486 I had no idea. 498 00:39:31,608 --> 00:39:32,662 I didn't really know that. 499 00:39:32,676 --> 00:39:34,486 I didn't really understand this. 500 00:39:34,608 --> 00:39:53,294 And that's really what part of what we're about is a Christian faith is about, is making people aware of the areas where suffering and pain are being multiplied because of a lack of awareness and not because anybody's trying to necessarily be mean sometimes, but because there's a lack of awareness. 501 00:39:53,342 --> 00:40:00,526 And so when I heard that question, I thought it was coming from a super good place of just, hey, were we not doing a good job? 502 00:40:00,648 --> 00:40:01,834 I thought we were. 503 00:40:01,992 --> 00:40:10,918 And I kind of wanted to tell that person, yeah, you know what whole life is in my mind light years ahead of a lot of Christian churches out there. 504 00:40:11,064 --> 00:40:14,050 But being light years ahead doesn't mean that you're still fully there. 505 00:40:14,100 --> 00:40:19,354 It means that we keep working and trying to improve and just be the best Church that we can. 506 00:40:19,392 --> 00:40:29,638 And I suspect whenever I wind up retiring or whatever, I suspect there's going to be a lot of work left to do still in this area because it's just always a growing experience. 507 00:40:29,724 --> 00:40:36,262 There's just always one thing more that you can do a little bit better, try a little bit more, and that's good. 508 00:40:36,396 --> 00:40:37,570 It's good to keep trying. 509 00:40:37,620 --> 00:40:40,418 It's good to be aware that we can always be improving. 510 00:40:40,574 --> 00:40:43,090 36 years is all you have left to go. 511 00:40:43,260 --> 00:40:43,594 Sure. 512 00:40:43,632 --> 00:40:45,120 I'm almost to a year, aren't I? 513 00:40:47,910 --> 00:40:48,622 So close. 514 00:40:48,696 --> 00:40:49,690 It's cruising. 515 00:40:50,790 --> 00:40:54,410 I didn't take the question totally as a negative. 516 00:40:54,590 --> 00:41:07,800 But I also think that if you've been like if this has been your Church experience for your entire life, it's like living in America and not realizing how good you have it. 517 00:41:09,990 --> 00:41:16,310 If you grew up in Midwest, like in Wisconsin, Heather and I, we got married, we lived in Green Bay. 518 00:41:16,430 --> 00:41:19,066 Green Bay is the largest Church in the area. 519 00:41:19,128 --> 00:41:30,180 And you drive what, 35, 40 minutes to Fox Valley if you want to go to the next to another Church, which is a 10th of the size, 8th of the size. 520 00:41:30,510 --> 00:41:38,842 If you go north, you'd have to go to 20 churches which there aren't in order to be the same size Church, or you travel to Madison two and a half hours away. 521 00:41:38,976 --> 00:41:46,466 So if you're stuck in a Church where a lot of people wouldn't find the kind of Church you're in because it doesn't exist. 522 00:41:46,538 --> 00:41:47,942 And there's not another one closer. 523 00:41:47,966 --> 00:41:49,010 We live in Orlando. 524 00:41:49,130 --> 00:41:58,140 We're spoiled number one, because we're at Whole Life Church number two, there are other churches that you can attempt to go to and find that community. 525 00:41:59,370 --> 00:42:01,090 But yeah, I see what you're saying, too. 526 00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:02,014 It goes both ways. 527 00:42:02,052 --> 00:42:03,322 Yeah, I think that's a good point, Randy, though. 528 00:42:03,336 --> 00:42:09,662 I mean, I do think that part of what we try to do at Whole Life is educate outside of our walls. 529 00:42:09,686 --> 00:42:10,260 Right. 530 00:42:10,950 --> 00:42:20,040 So we have literally hundreds of people that tune in to our Church services from literally all over the world. 531 00:42:21,450 --> 00:42:23,386 And then you have the people in house. 532 00:42:23,448 --> 00:42:29,158 And so for me, it's like this twofold thing, the people who may not attend our Church and have this experience. 533 00:42:29,244 --> 00:42:32,986 I'm glad for them to know that there is a Church that cares and is doing things. 534 00:42:33,108 --> 00:42:38,098 And there are actually more than a few churches that are doing this, but I'm glad for them to know that. 535 00:42:38,124 --> 00:42:43,306 And then I'm also glad for us as we have our Church members, life happens. 536 00:42:43,368 --> 00:42:44,594 People move different places. 537 00:42:44,642 --> 00:42:49,066 I'm happy to be able to send out missionaries to enrich and make other places better. 538 00:42:49,248 --> 00:42:59,818 I concern myself a little bit of a missionary in this one, too, because it was my experience up at Madison Campus Church that when I showed up here and you came and talked to me, I was ready. 539 00:42:59,844 --> 00:43:00,262 I was like, oh. 540 00:43:00,276 --> 00:43:03,298 Yeah, I had a family there. 541 00:43:03,324 --> 00:43:04,954 We started doing something like this up there. 542 00:43:04,992 --> 00:43:05,950 And this is a need. 543 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:07,834 And I'm glad you're talking to me about this. 544 00:43:07,872 --> 00:43:11,026 And so it prepared me. 545 00:43:11,208 --> 00:43:16,342 So I'm hoping that as we do things here, it prepares other people as they may wind up in other places to go. 546 00:43:16,356 --> 00:43:18,518 Hey, I could start a new barriers committee at the next Church. 547 00:43:18,554 --> 00:43:31,598 I show up and I can go ahead and be an advocate for that parent that I see struggling or that human being that I see struggling as they're trying to attend Church and find a place of belonging. 548 00:43:31,754 --> 00:43:32,460 Absolutely. 549 00:43:33,330 --> 00:43:34,006 That's important. 550 00:43:34,068 --> 00:43:55,870 I can just tell you the closest that's kind of having two small children under the age of three at one time and preaching and being on the road with Rochelle because I was a conference communication director at the time and walking, people literally thought she was a single mom bringing her kids to Church because I'd usually make a beeline in find who I was supposed to, and she would slowly come along with the other kids. 551 00:43:55,980 --> 00:44:06,014 And I can tell you time after time that there were churches that we never wanted to go back to again because of the way they treated our kids and my wife. 552 00:44:06,062 --> 00:44:07,346 And then there are other churches. 553 00:44:07,418 --> 00:44:13,426 I remember one Church where the pastor met us in the parking lot when we pulled up. 554 00:44:13,548 --> 00:44:22,214 And so I know you got little kids here's, some people that are going to come around you and help you today, because I can only imagine how hard it must be for you in a new Church. 555 00:44:22,262 --> 00:44:23,760 And I was like, wow. 556 00:44:24,090 --> 00:44:25,798 And I aspire to be you. 557 00:44:25,824 --> 00:44:28,750 Craig, if you listen, that's awesome. 558 00:44:28,860 --> 00:44:38,098 Well, I want to give everyone just a chance to say anything that didn't come out in the panel we haven't talked about today in the podcast as we start to wrap it up. 559 00:44:38,124 --> 00:44:44,758 And for me, it's just I hope that if there is someone listening that it can watch our Church online. 560 00:44:44,844 --> 00:44:47,940 If you're not local, know that what we're trying to do. 561 00:44:48,270 --> 00:44:51,266 It's tough to do it, I guess, through the Internet. 562 00:44:51,398 --> 00:44:57,274 But that's the heart of who you see and what you see of Whole Life Church is what we're trying to do. 563 00:44:57,312 --> 00:45:01,178 And I hope that makes it through the interweb somehow. 564 00:45:01,214 --> 00:45:04,054 And it welcomes you to know that we don't care who you are. 565 00:45:04,092 --> 00:45:06,526 We would just love for you to be a part of our family. 566 00:45:06,708 --> 00:45:18,274 And if you are local and you have a family member or yourself that has some kind of barrier that we would love to have you come to Whole Life Church and be a part of our Church family. 567 00:45:18,432 --> 00:45:24,370 And we'd love to meet you and just would love to shake your hand, come and see us. 568 00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:27,394 And we are working to be better all the time. 569 00:45:27,432 --> 00:45:30,634 And I think, like Ken said, we already do a great job. 570 00:45:30,672 --> 00:45:34,078 We feel loved, and we just want to pass that on to as many as possible. 571 00:45:34,164 --> 00:45:36,218 Heather, let's go around the table. 572 00:45:36,314 --> 00:45:37,402 Anything else? 573 00:45:37,596 --> 00:45:39,730 It's okay to say no if there's not? 574 00:45:39,900 --> 00:45:42,300 Well, I think you've really covered it. 575 00:45:42,810 --> 00:45:44,350 I feel the same way. 576 00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:55,678 I just want people to know that you have a place at Whole Life Church and there are people here that may be on the same journey as you. 577 00:45:55,764 --> 00:46:02,026 And we may not have everything right now, but we're working towards it because we care about you and your family. 578 00:46:02,208 --> 00:46:04,402 That's the message that I want to get across. 579 00:46:04,476 --> 00:46:05,458 That's my heart. 580 00:46:05,544 --> 00:46:24,310 That's why I'm involved in this, because I've experienced things that I don't want people to experience, and I want them to know that there's somebody there that understands and cares and will just listen and do whatever we can to invite you into a relationship with Jesus. 581 00:46:25,410 --> 00:46:26,160 Yeah. 582 00:46:28,110 --> 00:46:34,582 I want to say thank you to the no Barriers Committee, Heather, to you as the leader of that. 583 00:46:34,776 --> 00:46:38,062 I just really appreciate what's happening. 584 00:46:38,196 --> 00:46:42,120 I'm excited about how we can improve and grow. 585 00:46:43,170 --> 00:46:54,314 And I appreciate the fact that you trusted me enough as a new pastor to come up and say, hey, Ken, I've got a burden on my heart, so I'm grateful. 586 00:46:54,362 --> 00:46:57,238 I hope others will feel the same if they're listening to this. 587 00:46:57,264 --> 00:47:04,762 If there's something that's a burden on your heart, it may have to do with disability or nothing to do with disability, but I hope you feel safe to do that. 588 00:47:04,836 --> 00:47:13,570 And I especially appreciate that not only did you feel a burden, but you are willing to do something about that burden and you are willing to jump in and work on that. 589 00:47:13,620 --> 00:47:17,410 So I really appreciate that, Carlos. 590 00:47:18,450 --> 00:47:19,980 Yeah, same thing. 591 00:47:20,430 --> 00:47:34,646 Thank you to Randy and Heather for having the courage to say something, because I think that's where it starts if somebody has to have the courage to do that, because whether we like it or not, there is shame in society around disabilities. 592 00:47:34,718 --> 00:47:41,700 So I want to thank you guys and thank you to everyone else who is on the committee, because I think it is something that is very important. 593 00:47:43,830 --> 00:47:44,786 It's the committee. 594 00:47:44,858 --> 00:47:53,986 And Melinda and Susan and Olga Ken has been with us multiple times. 595 00:47:54,048 --> 00:47:59,182 And just to make sure that everyone's not just running off the tracks, wild, crazy things like that. 596 00:47:59,376 --> 00:48:01,500 I show up to let you know I care. 597 00:48:02,250 --> 00:48:06,300 And who else, please don't let me forget anybody, because that's everything. 598 00:48:10,090 --> 00:48:11,680 It takes all of us. 599 00:48:12,790 --> 00:48:14,834 It's everybody pouring their heart into it. 600 00:48:14,872 --> 00:48:19,682 Everybody bringing their skills, their experience to the team. 601 00:48:19,756 --> 00:48:21,854 That makes it a really amazing team. 602 00:48:22,012 --> 00:48:25,790 And I've had people come up to me and say, I want to be part of this. 603 00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:27,662 Yeah, that's pretty cool. 604 00:48:27,856 --> 00:48:30,986 We had a couple of comments that came through that. 605 00:48:31,108 --> 00:48:35,214 And Alicia said, I just have to say that this is why I'm a part of this Church. 606 00:48:35,262 --> 00:48:38,738 I'm an occupational therapist, and this area is so important to me. 607 00:48:38,824 --> 00:48:41,634 No other Church I've been to have had this discussion. 608 00:48:41,742 --> 00:48:44,330 This is so unbelievably special and needed. 609 00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:45,218 Thank you. 610 00:48:45,364 --> 00:48:56,274 And when you see things like that, when you feel like you're touching someone's heart and Tammy said, it's not about doing stuff for them. 611 00:48:56,312 --> 00:48:57,618 It's getting to know them. 612 00:48:57,644 --> 00:49:04,482 And when people are resonating with what you're saying and their thoughts that come out during the service, just show that. 613 00:49:04,616 --> 00:49:09,082 And then it just makes you feel like you're just on the right path. 614 00:49:09,106 --> 00:49:10,926 And what God has put on your heart is true. 615 00:49:11,048 --> 00:49:20,782 And even though it was a rough, rough week leading up to last Saturday, it was just a lot of prayers and a lot of tears. 616 00:49:20,926 --> 00:49:23,214 But through it all, it went really, really well. 617 00:49:23,252 --> 00:49:25,158 And so many people just shared with us. 618 00:49:25,184 --> 00:49:26,538 And it was amazing. 619 00:49:26,624 --> 00:49:30,762 So if you have anything else to add, obviously we would love to hear from you. 620 00:49:30,776 --> 00:49:45,450 We didn't have any takeaways this week, but you can always reach out 407-965-1607 text or email, and that is anonymous if you'd like to be and podcast at wholelife Church if you find it easier to email. 621 00:49:45,620 --> 00:49:47,014 And then our final thoughts. 622 00:49:47,062 --> 00:50:00,190 This one, I laughed and it just made my heart feel good that Carla just took Ken's usual the Kwp the Ken Whitmore paraphrase, and made the CMP the Carla Monet paraphrase. 623 00:50:00,310 --> 00:50:11,922 She said, some of us are paralyzed autistic, developmentally delayed Dyslexic, have CP or ADHD, but we all have a part to play in the body of Christ. 624 00:50:11,996 --> 00:50:20,118 And the way it was worded was I heard a lot of amens throughout the day, but especially there. 625 00:50:20,144 --> 00:50:23,214 And that was a fun way to end it today as well. 626 00:50:23,312 --> 00:50:24,454 Just that realization. 627 00:50:24,562 --> 00:50:34,690 So next week, Ken is finally we're taking the baton out of his hand because he wouldn't let it go just by himself. 628 00:50:34,750 --> 00:50:36,870 He wants to be worship host every week now. 629 00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:37,446 Every week. 630 00:50:37,508 --> 00:50:44,730 Every week, we're going to make him go back to preaching because Carla said ten minutes was enough for me. 631 00:50:44,840 --> 00:50:45,800 More than enough. 632 00:50:54,750 --> 00:50:57,478 You're uncomfortable sitting here even thinking about the idea? 633 00:50:57,564 --> 00:50:59,830 Like I would have to preach. 634 00:51:00,210 --> 00:51:02,014 You say that now a couple of weeks. 635 00:51:02,052 --> 00:51:05,594 So you probably won't be saying that one at a time, huh? 636 00:51:05,762 --> 00:51:06,480 No. 637 00:51:07,050 --> 00:51:08,830 Everything turned out amazing. 638 00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:10,646 So new series. 639 00:51:10,718 --> 00:51:12,530 And did I hear eleven parts? 640 00:51:12,650 --> 00:51:15,002 Eleven parts for the Ten Commandments? 641 00:51:15,146 --> 00:51:15,454 Yes. 642 00:51:15,492 --> 00:51:22,680 I do know that there are only Ten Commandments, but next week we're actually doing like an intro to it. 643 00:51:23,850 --> 00:51:34,330 And the Ten Commitment series is called Love at Work, a Rise to Love at Work, which is a little acronym for L-A-L-I got you right there. 644 00:51:34,380 --> 00:51:35,638 Yeah, I was with you. 645 00:51:35,784 --> 00:51:37,862 There's a lot of blank looks in Church. 646 00:51:37,886 --> 00:51:38,446 I'm just saying. 647 00:51:38,508 --> 00:51:39,214 I got it. 648 00:51:39,312 --> 00:51:39,718 Okay. 649 00:51:39,804 --> 00:51:40,330 All right. 650 00:51:40,440 --> 00:51:44,170 Anyway, maybe it's just like and move on, Ken. 651 00:51:45,090 --> 00:51:46,918 But yeah, we're going to be doing that. 652 00:51:47,004 --> 00:51:52,094 And next week we're starting off with the very first part of the Ten Commandments. 653 00:51:52,142 --> 00:51:57,698 And a lot of times we leave this off, but God actually prefaces it before he begins. 654 00:51:57,734 --> 00:52:01,766 He says, I am the God that brought you out of Egypt. 655 00:52:01,898 --> 00:52:03,674 And then he gives the Ten Commandments. 656 00:52:03,722 --> 00:52:18,670 And so what I want to kind of touch on is why God would start off the Ten Commandments by saying that and what the significance of the Ten Commandments are the whole point of then I'll just give you the you can show up to Church or not. 657 00:52:18,720 --> 00:52:24,662 But the quick thing I want people to know is the law is not about a loss of freedom. 658 00:52:24,686 --> 00:52:26,410 It's about a gaining of freedom. 659 00:52:27,270 --> 00:52:29,494 That's why we're going to be talking about. 660 00:52:29,652 --> 00:52:32,182 All right, well, one final thing. 661 00:52:32,316 --> 00:52:36,766 We didn't say it here, although many people have said it this past week. 662 00:52:36,828 --> 00:52:44,030 The worship group, Albert and Kelsey, Stevie. 663 00:52:44,150 --> 00:52:44,614 Thank you. 664 00:52:44,652 --> 00:52:45,530 Kelsey, Stevie. 665 00:52:45,590 --> 00:52:49,630 And who played the keys this week? 666 00:52:49,680 --> 00:52:53,146 Oh, Moises did the keys this week. 667 00:52:53,208 --> 00:52:55,018 And that was good. 668 00:52:55,104 --> 00:52:56,098 So the music was out there. 669 00:52:56,124 --> 00:52:57,542 The music was fabulous. 670 00:52:57,626 --> 00:52:59,050 And they did a fantastic job. 671 00:52:59,100 --> 00:53:03,610 And so we just want them to know that as well, and that's it. 672 00:53:03,660 --> 00:53:04,622 So new series. 673 00:53:04,706 --> 00:53:06,826 Oh, I know what I forgot to say. 674 00:53:07,008 --> 00:53:07,718 Read your notes. 675 00:53:07,754 --> 00:53:12,398 Randy Carlotte had mentioned that we did a series. 676 00:53:12,494 --> 00:53:16,282 I think it was nine parts on Love, and she referenced it in her message. 677 00:53:16,356 --> 00:53:19,994 And so for any of you all that maybe didn't catch that part of the podcast. 678 00:53:20,042 --> 00:53:20,674 Maybe you're new. 679 00:53:20,712 --> 00:53:23,834 I've heard from a couple of you recently who just found the podcast. 680 00:53:23,942 --> 00:53:30,110 If you swipe up in today's show notes or whatever player you're on, if you go to the show notes, there will be a link to a collection. 681 00:53:30,290 --> 00:53:31,958 All nine of those are in one collection. 682 00:53:31,994 --> 00:53:32,998 So you don't have to click out. 683 00:53:33,024 --> 00:53:34,054 You don't have to lose your place. 684 00:53:34,092 --> 00:53:36,302 You don't have to try to find the next episode. 685 00:53:36,326 --> 00:53:37,514 They're all in one collection. 686 00:53:37,562 --> 00:53:43,222 It will come up on your phone and you can listen to all nine of those that we did well, that was a couple of months ago. 687 00:53:43,236 --> 00:53:45,422 We finished those up but that was a fantastic series. 688 00:53:45,506 --> 00:53:53,650 So just because love is what we have to start with, according to Carla and I happen to agree and according to Ken, so I'll double agree. 689 00:53:53,760 --> 00:53:55,954 Heather shaking your head so level, triple agree. 690 00:53:55,992 --> 00:53:57,050 We are all in agreement. 691 00:53:57,170 --> 00:53:59,158 It is carried we have a second. 692 00:53:59,244 --> 00:54:01,894 We don't need one that is going to do it for this week. 693 00:54:01,932 --> 00:54:05,470 Thanks for listening everyone and have a great weekend. 694 00:54:31,390 --> 00:54:31,640 You.