Reindeer Games

I'm playing reindeer toss at Fun Life! I'm the one on the very end!

The Last Place You Look

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I’m into scrapbooking, but the limited dexterity in my hands makes it difficult.  Someone else has to put the pictures in for me. Recently, I found something that I thought I lost for good.

It was an e-mail from someone named Renee Bondi. She was also in a wheelchair.  She came to speak at a Joni and Friends family retreat.  I e-mailed her because I wanted to thank her for allowing me to talk to her for a while recognizing my need for help. We talked about my frustrations with my aides at home in my day program and wanting to live on my own. After I e-mailed her, she replied back with some advice.

I was so excited, that I printed it out so I could save it and put it in my scrapbook.  I put it on the very bottom shelf where I thought it would be safe. So many different people had been coming in and out of my room helping me with things that it somehow got moved. I went to grab the letter, but it wasn’t there!  What happened to it? I thought.  I had my aides tear my whole room apart looking for it. It’s gone. I thought. I was almost in tears.   

            I started blaming my disability.  If I could do it myself, this wouldn’t happen.  I had forgotten that the last aide who helped me with my scrapbook put the letter in the back of the book. I looked there but didn’t see it.  I was in deep despair.  The response back was unexpected. That was pretty special that somebody would take the time to do that - somebody who had been there - who really understands what I’m going through. It’s priceless.  Now we’re friends.  She’s in my prayers.

The aide flipped through the pages and there it was at the back of the book! When I saw it I said, “Thank you Lord!” At least now I know where it is next time I want to look at it. 

My letter was in the last place I looked.  Isn’t that just like us? Searching high and low trying to find the right direction to go and it’s right under our noses.  All the answers are right there in the Bible yet that seems to be the last place we look.    We don’t cry out to God until things get really bad. Then we say. “Lord, where are you?”  Just when we think He has left us, the Lord says,  “My child I’m right here!” Then we run to Him. If we ran to Him in the first place, our world would be in a lot less pain. He’s waiting for you with open arms. Will you run to him?

Dear Lord,

Help me to make you the first one I run to.

Amen

                                                               

                                               

             

From The Heart

Here's some poetry I wrote when I took a writing class through the U.C.L.A. extension program earlier in the year. Many of the poems reflect my true feelings about my disability, as well as give you insight into some of the activities I do. Enjoy!

Adventures in a Wheelchair
The Beach
Clack , click
Hand on my joystick.
I leave my room.
Zoom zoom zoom .
Heading for some way out where on into the ocean air.
I wish I could fly.
Fly high in the sky.

Skiing at Big Bear Mountain
Look at me go so fast in the snow.
Moving left and right with ease.
The use of my arms instead of my knees.
“Look at me” I say.
Filled with such glee.
I can do it myself.
I only need me.”

First Grade- Why can’t I?
Everyone else is learning to write.
Something doesn’t seem quite right.
My hands are taking flight.
Why? Why can’t I write?

Horse back riding
I jump on the horse and for the course.
As the horse goes around,
I have to make sure to not land on the ground.
The horse looks down as he hears a new sound.
“Come on horse stop fooling around.”

The pool
I go into the pool .
Where it is nice and cool.
I could stay there all day.
It’s like freedom today.
I swim like a fish.
Move as I wish.
I don’t care bout turning blue,
I’ll stay there til day bids Adieu.

Christmas In Heaven

Heaven is s a place where everything is perfect and we’ll be reunited with Jesus and our loved ones who were believers. Have you ever wondered what Christmas is like in heaven? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but I’ve found myself pondering the question a lot the past couple years each time Christmas rolls around. 

On December 3, 2007, my Grandma Benson died at the age of 78 of a massive heart attack.  Christmas Eve was at her house.  One of my favorite Christmas memories with Grandma is baking cookies. We made two kinds.  We made sugar cookies with different cookie cutters. We also made peanut butter with Hershey’s kisses in the middle.

Everyone would be around the table talking about how the year had been for everyone and Grandma Benson would be right next to me.  She would sprinkle the dough with sugar and then roll it out.  I would pick up a cookie cutter, she would help me line it up, and then I would press the cookie cutter into the dough.  When we couldn’t fit any more cookies on the dough, we’d scoop them up and put them on a cookie sheet and get another one.  We’d be at it for hours.  We’d make jokes, we’d laugh, she’d ask me how I was doing in school, etc.  It was a good feeling to have Grandma right next to me. We made Christmas cookies this year for the time in years. For the first time, Grandma wasn’t there. 

The thing I love most about cookies, or anything freshly baked is the smell as it’s in the oven! I also love the warm mouth-watering taste it gives my stomach on the inside because it’s so warm. Grandma was such a servant. When she didn’t have anything to give, she gave. I like to think that she is standing alongside Jesus right now preparing a feast for everyone there. I like to picture heaven like a huge bakery.  I can’t wait to share cookies with Grandma in heaven.  The best part is in heaven we won’t have to worry about calories because there won’t be such a thing. Since heaven is a place where everything is perfect, we’ll taste the best cookies ever made!  See you in heaven Grandma!

The Cardboard Testimonies

 Some days, I long for my heavenly body right now.  Recently, I went to a fundraiser for Young Life.   They asked a group of us to give our testimonies of how Young Life had impacted our lives.  They had us put it on pieces of cardboard.  On one side, we put what our life was like before we came to Young Life.  On the other side, we put how our lives were affected after we came to Young Life. On the front, mine said: “Burdened.” On the back, it said: “Safe and Understood.”

We were doing a rehearsal.   They didn’t have a ramp, so I stayed down in front. While everyone else practiced going on stage, I stayed behind with one of the leaders and practiced turning over a piece of cardboard.  Every time I tried, I either turned the cardboard upside down, or I kept rotating the cardboard- Why is this so hard? I thought.       The leader reminded me that there was a great reward for me in heaven. She was right, but all I could think was, If only I had perfect hands, I would be able to do this. We decided in the interest of time that my leader would help me flip over the cardboard. In those moments when we long for heaven, remember that Jesus walked the earth. I’m sure He longed for heaven many times.

Dear Jesus,

Help me to keep my eyes focused on you.

Amen

Hunt for Heaven

Here's the book cover for The Hunt for heaven. I can't wait to see the other pictures!

Let Go And Let God

      I ride horses at Carousel Ranch. It’s a place that does equestrian therapy for people with disabilities.
One time my instructor took me on a trail ride. Everything was going fine until we got to a tree. It was kind of hot and the horse decided that it was time to eat. He started to nibble on a leaf. The spotter who was in charge of controlling my horse in front pulled on the bit. She was saying, “No, not now it’s time to work. “ The horse was determined. He went for it again. My spotter pulled on the bit. This time, the horse backed up very strongly. Startled, I let go quickly and fell toward one of the side walkers. After I landed with my feet safely on the ground, I laughed and said, “Well, there’s a first time for everything.” We drove in a truck back down to the arena.

     In many ways, we are very similar to the horse. Many times we want something so bad we will do anything to get it. We don’t want to listen to God until we fall flat on our backs. If you’re using something someone else created, don’t you think that person knows more about the product than you do? When God says no to something, shouldn’t we trust the judgment of the one who made us?



Dear Lord,
Help me to give you complete control of my life.
Amen

Let Go And Let God

      I ride horses at Carousel Ranch. It’s a place that does equestrian therapy for people with disabilities.
One time my instructor took me on a trail ride. Everything was going fine until we got to a tree. It was kind of hot and the horse decided that it was time to eat. He started to nibble on a leaf. The spotter who was in charge of controlling my horse in front pulled on the bit. She was saying, “No, not now it’s time to work. “ The horse was determined. He went for it again. My spotter pulled on the bit. This time, the horse backed up very strongly. Startled, I let go quickly and fell toward one of the side walkers. After I landed with my feet safely on the ground, I laughed and said, “Well, there’s a first time for everything.” We drove in a truck back down to the arena.

     In many ways, we are very similar to the horse. Many times we want something so bad we will do anything to get it. We don’t want to listen to God until we fall flat on our backs. If you’re using something someone else created, don’t you think that person knows more about the product than you do? When God says no to something, shouldn’t we trust the judgment of the one who made us?



Dear Lord,
Help me to give you complete control of my life.
Amen

Camp Capernaum 2008

Here's a letter that I wrote to God at Young Life camp last year. Enjoy!

Dear God,
Thank you for your unending love. Thank you that you don't make mistakes. Thank you that you saw our souls as disabled so you came to save them. Thank you for the promise of a new body someday. Thank you for being there during the tough times. Thanks for putting me into a family that cares about you and sends me to camps like Young Life.

I'm looking forward to the day when I get to heaven and I get to ask you why I had to have CP-- then I get to throw my chair in the fires of hell. I look forward to seeing you. Come back soon!

Love,
Rachael

R.S.V.P.

By Rachael Benson
”I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Revelation 3:20

Have you ever gotten an invitation to a party and on the bottom it says, “R.S.V.P. By” and It’s got a date, with the person’s name and number next to it? It means please let me know if you’re coming.  Usually you get an invitation because you have a close relationship with that person - they consider you valuable.  While the invitation costs you nothing at all, it costs the person putting on the party —the cake, the decorations, the invitations, etc.

In the same way, God considers us so valuable that He gave up the one thing that meant the most to Him— His son Jesus. God should’ve turned His back on us and said, “Forget it.” Instead, He sent His son Jesus to die on the cross for us because He wants to have a relationship with us. 

By sending Jesus, God sent us a personalized invitation to heaven with our name on it. A written invitation from God might say something like this:

   To: Rachael

From: God

You’re invited to a homecoming party.

Where: Heaven

When: Today

Directions: Accept my son Jesus into you’re heart.

What to Bring: Yourself

R.S.V.P.  Today

Will you R.S.V. P.?

Dear Jesus,

I invite you to come into my heart.

Amen

Footprints im the Butter

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself take up his cross and follow me."

Matthew 16:24

How do you know when an elephant has been in the refrigerator? You’ll see its footprints in the butter. My pastor shared that joke in a sermon. How many times have you heard a non-believer say, “Why should I become a Christian? They’re a bunch of hypocrites.”

Unfortunately, in today’s world, most of the time, the non-believer is right. I’ve seen a lot of Christians who tell me they’ve been saved for many years, but yet they act like they’re new. Every other word out of their mouth is a swear word, they constantly yell at the store clerk who accidentally overcharged them on their grocery bill, they’re heavily into witchcraft, they enjoy getting drunk at a bar, etc. Pretty soon a Christian is defined as someone who goes to church. Anyone can do that.

I believe that God calls us to be elephants. He wants us to leave footprints that lead others to Him. “I’m going to get laughed at,” you say. Jesus got laughed at while dying on the cross. He left us the footprints to heaven because He loves us. What kind of footprints are you leaving for Christ? Are they the footprints of an elephant?

Dear Lord,
Please help me to lead a life that leaves footprints for you.
Amen

"See You Tomorrow"

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17

            Usually when you say,  “See you tomorrow” to someone it literally means see you tomorrow. Did you ever think that the same phrase might have another meaning?

            My family and I used to go to church on Saturday night. After church, our favorite tradition was to get a Baskin Robbins milkshake. When people went there just as they were heading out the door, the workers would say,“ See you tomorrow.” I’m sure people thought they were nuts. “What do they mean see you tomorrow? I’m not coming back tomorrow. Those people are weird.”

            Finally, one of us asked, “What do you guys mean by “See you tomorrow?”

The manager replied, “We’re Christians. We have the assurance that when we die we’ll see each other again in heaven.”   
            The phrase “See you tomorrow” was their clever way of sharing the Gospel.  How about you? Is your eternal future secure?

Dear Lord,

Please give me a heart that always longs to see your face.

Amen

I’ll see you tomorrow.

Capernaum Idol

Worship the Lord with gladness;

                     Come before him with joyful songs.” Psalm 100:2 (New International Version).

Recently, I went to a Young Life summer camp called Capernaum. Young Life is a ministry for teens and young adults.  Capernaum is the camp designed for people with disabilities.   It seems no matter how hard I try to be ready, the week never goes exactly as planned.

             Everyone was getting ready for Capernaum Idol. I got to the clubhouse, and my leader took the CD out of my backpack. “What number Rachael?”  He asked as he handed it to the DJ.

“Number seven.” I replied.

He opened the case. “Rachael?”  “There’s no CD in there.”

“What?” I replied.

He came down and showed me.  The case was empty. The CD— got left at home!  "That’s it. I thought. It’s over."  Suddenly, another leader said,“Rach, this is Hollywood we make it work.” I sang the song acapella.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengths me.

Oh I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

In anything and everything I’ve learned to be content

Oh I can do all things through Christ who strengthens you and me.”

At the end, the audience gave a standing ovation. I realized that while I have one plan, God has another. Whose show is it anyway?

Dear Lord,

Please help me to have a heart of worship for you in everything I do.

Amen