A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On

I despise change. Maybe it is my autism showing. Yet I confess it willingly so that you might fully understand how difficult it is for me to open myself up to new things. I hope you will appreciate just how challenging life is right now when I expand on how many things are being “shaken up” right now.

Three years ago I started blogging to help me process some of our struggles with autism. To my surprise I found an audience for both our pain and struggle as well as our victories. Many members of this audience either know us personally or have loved ones with a disability. But some of my readers identified with our struggle because the emotions tied into their own hardships can be reflected in our journey. Pain is universal.

I also began work on a Masters degree in Theology around the same time. The more I studied about God, the more I reflected on his work in my life and in the life of my son. I had always been haunted by issues surrounding spirituality and autism. Questions like, “Will Noah every understand himself as in a relationship with God?” were answered along the way. But more abstract concepts required further study. For instance, if Noah is neurologically “damaged” (clinically speaking), what does it mean to say he is still made perfectly in the image of God? Faithful readers of this blog will note that, very often, we are not treated like we “look like God.”

So I spent the last year of my life writing a thesis on that very topic. My thesis statement reads: In contrast to classic scientific, popular, and even some Christian assumptions about disabilities, a theologically responsible perspective calls us to recognize that neurologically disabled people are just as human as neurotypical people because they, too, are created in God’s image. This may seem like common sense to you, but if you have ever been treated as “less than” because of a disability, you understand. Trust me, this is a whole new way of imagining what humanity looks like AND what God looks like. It has been the experience of a lifetime. And today, at 3pm, I defend that thesis. (Pray saints, pray!!)

To shake things up even more, I have developed a relationship with Standard Publishing in a way I never could have imagined. They heard the message communicated through my thesis and in my blogs and thought, “Hey…there is something to this the world needs to hear!” I have been partnering with them to write lesson amendments that can be used by churches include children with special needs in classrooms with “normal” (typically developing) children. This relationship is growing and more resources are being created each quarter. I will be posting a link to those resources as soon as possible. Please don’t laugh when we see me referred to as their “Special Needs Expert.”

Because having my picture on resources wasn’t uncomfortable enough, this partnership has led to another one. This winter I presented several workshops for Standard Publishing at Children’s Pastor’s Conference in Orlando and San Diego. INCM (International Network of Children’s Ministry) sponsors this event. I will be featured on in their magazine in an interview about “Special Needs and The Church.” I also shot a few videos about “Recruiting in Children’s Ministry” for them that will be featured on their website next month. (Again, all of you who know me personally are aware just how completely out of my comfort zone I am at this point not only in telling you this, but in my life in general.)

This partnership – you guessed it – led to another. And here is perhaps some of the biggest news and the reason for the change of blog site.

Starting May 14th, 2013 I will begin hosting an internet radio show called “Shaping Special Hearts with Vangie Rodenbeck.” (gulp…there, I put it in writing) This show is co-sponsored by Standard Publishing and cmconnect. The goal of this every-other-week show is to have conversations around topics in special needs and disability ministries. I pray that this can be a resource for churches, ministers, volunteers and parents to help us show the world not only HOW to minister to the disabled but also how the disabled minister to US by showing us what God looks like in unexpected ways.

So this is a new blog site for a few reasons…

1. I will be able to link resources that I am writing more easily from this site.
2. The radio show will be embedded on this site and easier to find.
3. Blogging – which I promise there will be more of – will be easier for people to access my visiting vangierodenbeck.com. The blog will be the main page of this site.
4. There will also be a page “About Me” dedicated to letting people know how I have chosen to see the “holy in the common place” and the image of God in our struggle.
5. And for people who wish for me to consult or conduct a seminar for their church or school, there will be a page on this site dedicated to that as well.

I think that is about as uncomfortable as I can possibly get. But I was inspired this morning by a video posted by a Facebook friend in which her child is having a “sensory meltdown.” It brought back all the memories of what we have lived through and continue to struggle with. Her transparent plea for understanding and further education about the struggles families with disabled children have pushed me to post about A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On in my life. None of my pain and experience can have redemption if I don’t help someone through a similar struggle.

I am sure your question is: How is Noah handling all of this? Noah tells me all the time that I am “going to be famous because of him and his autism.” He is quite the advocate for autism and has started research of his own. He likes to call himself my “autism guinea pig” with a sly smile on his face. It isn’t uncommon for him to say, “Tell people how much autism is like God.” He is quite the evangelist.

So more stories will follow. More resources will be posted. And you can follow the radio show if you are so inclined. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this, pass it on. I’m always looking to learn from others about ways we can show the world that disabilities aren’t the worst thing that can happen to a family.

Stay tuned to hear what I’ll be involved in next. I’m thinking “Autism – The Musical!” I envision something with banjo music and tons of repetitive motor movements. I want Carrie Underwood to play me:)