Chet McDoniel
Being born without arms has yet to bring me down. I choose to be happy.
My humble attempt at explaining why bad things happen even to those who serve God. We will face hard times, but in facing those times, and choosing to follow God, we honor and praise His name through our choice.
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I spoke this morning at Carroll Middle School in the Southlake-Carroll School District here in the Dallas / Fort Worth area. One of my main topics this morning was a message to bullies, to those being bullied, and to those who could do something about it. The video link at the end of this post is from a bullying report on HLN. The child being bullied appealed to school officials, and NOTHING was done. Inaction by authority figures closest to the student resulted in a more volitale situation. It makes me sick that so-called teachers and administrators would tell this child it was all in his head.
You know why I believe the child in the video? Because the same thing happened to me in 8th grade.
There was a fellow student in my class who made my life miserable. I hated going to school, and hated even seeing his face. One day, I came to the teacher of the class that the bully and I were in. I told her all of my hurt feelings that the bully had caused. I had never told anyone about my pain before. Her response, “it’s all in your head.” That night, I can remember lying in bed believing that if my appeal to an adult who was closest to the situation didn’t help, that I’d be better off not waking up in the morning. I had never felt more alone and worthless than that day.
There is a good epilogue to this story. The bully was invited to a church retreat when I was a Junior in high school. He approached me one morning to apologize, as he said in his own words, “Jesus is Lord of my life, now, and he would never have done the awful things to you that I did.” While the epilogue is good, the events that transpired in that 8th grade class could have been avoided. That teacher completely failed me and failed in her profession that day by dismissing my pain. She could have easily gotten an administrator involved, but she didn’t. (To be honest, she was a lousy educator, too, but that is a different story.)
I’m glad that the Dragons (students) of Carroll Middle School have the support that I didn’t have. I believe that the administration and teachers’ committment to a positive school enviornment would never allow what I went through to occur. Everyone near a child must understand…feelings are facts. If a child says he or she is the target of a bully, you MUST do something. Kids aren’t killing themselves simply from being bullied. They are killing themselves because they feel like no one cares, and nothing will ever be done to make the pain stop.
Check out this video from HLN of a father (and family) who tried to help, and what occurs when a school administration doesn’t do a thing about bullying. I applaud the efforts of the entire Southlake-Carroll School District, as I believe this would never occur the same way it did in this video below:
I have an amazing wife.
I love her with all my heart, and I know she loves me just as much. She posted a blog entry today that I believe each and every person needs to read. It is a declaration of our “normal” and I strongly encourage you to read: “Our Normal Obsession“
I had an awesome time in North Dakota this week at Minot State University. I spoke alongside my dad for the North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities’ 20th Anniversary Celebration. Check out the video at this link to see an interview done by a local TV station while were there:
This past Wednesday night, I traveled to Gun Barrel City, TX (awesome name for a city, BTW), to speak at the Spiritual Boot Camp at the Cedar Creek Church of God. While the evening took a turn we didn’t expect so that I didn’t get to present my story (I am returning on August 8 to present), I witnessed one of the most amazing displays of faith I’ve ever seen. At the front of the sanctuary a trash can had been placed on the stage, and that trash can had a label on it marked “Sin and Distractions.” Now, having been to many youth events, I’ve seen this kind of thing before. Usually, teens are asked to write some sin on a slip of paper and walk up to the front to throw it away. It’s a great symbolic gesture, but a gesture was not enough for the teens at Cedar Creek as I soon found out.
Before the event began, I walked up to the trash can and was blown away to see joints, bags of illegal drugs, porn magazines and videos, condoms, and other sinful pleasures. These weren’t words written on pieces of paper, but the actual devices of sin. Throughout the evening during the praise, teen after teen came forward to add to the trash can. With tears streaming down their faces, they would throw in their drugs, magazines, etc, and would immediately be greeted by the other teenagers in the room with hugs, applause, and excitement. The responses were amazing, and they reminded me of a part of the story of the prodigal son. I got a chance to share with the teens for a few minutes at the end and we focused on this statement in the story from Luke 15: 20:
So he got up and went to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
In this story, a son has squandered all his inheritance in a distant country, and he decides to return to his father to work as a servant as his actions surely would mean he could no longer be called his father’s son. However, Jesus (who is telling the story) throws a surprise twist and has God (represented by the father in the story) run out and welcome his son home. I absolutely love this particular statement: But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him. Where does the father (God) have to be in order to see his son returning home?
He had to be on the porch…waiting each and every moment of the day for his son to return.
God awaits for his children to come to Him…and there isn’t a hint of condemnation… His father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Those teens who were repenting and bringing their sins forward to throw away were not being met by a disdain from Heaven, but rather by a God and a Heaven waiting with open arms and throwing the biggest party ever! I praise God for His amazing grace!
On May 6th and 11th, I got the opportunity to speak at the Foulston – Siefkin Employment Law Seminar. My topic was “You’re Not Broken: How to Inspire a Happier, More Productive Workplace.” Among some other ideas, one thought I presented was how to inspire belief in your employees and co-workers. By simply believing in others, the workplace can be changed and positively influenced. I told a story about getting hired at Six Flags Over Texas when I was in high school. Instead of me describing it to you, take a look below to watch the clip for yourself:
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I recently got the chance to inspire attendees at the Morning Star Pregnancy Services banquet in Harrisburg, PA. My family got to join me, and we had a blast in the nearby town of Hershey, PA, eating tons of chocolate. Instead of me telling about the banquet, check out this article written by one of the attendees:
“I’ve enjoyed the life I’ve been given,” Chet says.
Granted, he does face challenges. He cannot walk long distances, so he uses a wheelchair. He must use his feet to drive and to type—but for him, that’s normal.
He fully recognizes that, in this age of extensive prenatal testing and ultrasounds, someone like him could easily be aborted. But, as he told the hundreds of people gathered at the Pennsylvania pregnancy center banquet, “We cannot know what life will bring.”
On March 24, 2010, my dad and I had the opportunity to speak to guests of the Hope Network Foundation in Grand Rapids, MI. The Hope Network Foundation provides a much needed service to those in the community with disabilities, providing everything from housing, employment, and most importantly, providing pastoral care. So often, our churches are either ill-equipped to provide for the needs of people with disabilities, or they have attitudes that give off a message to the community that suggests that people with special needs are not wanted in the kingdom of God.
I find the direct opposite to be true in Jesus’ ministry. In Jesus’ day, society had built walls around the diseased, handicapped, and around those who were easy targets of ridicule. Sound much different from today? Oh, maybe we don’t require certain people to live outside the city gates, but we do prefer that that they live in “another part of town.” Maybe we provide some services to those with disabilities, but so often it is because the US law says to do so rather than because we are following the example of our Savior. Jesus breaks through the man-made barriers time and time again, and when asked why, His reply is always some form of “because I know the will of my Father.” If we are truly following Jesus, we must have a heart for those whom society has already turned its back on. Jesus loves everyone, and so should we…
I absolutely love the work at Hope Network Foundation, and thank them for encouraging me through hearing about their mission. The question is, though, why must we have organizations like this? This organization specifically carries out the mission of Christ…but why has the church gone so far astray of this mission? If Christ’s church is to continue to be THE source of love in this world, we must find a way to get past the way we look, and we must learn to see Jesus in each and every person.
I love 7th graders! I mean it! They are some of the best audiences I’ve ever had, and I love their zest for life. Yesterday, I spoke to the “Dragons” at Dawson Middle School and today, it was also the “Dragons” from Carroll Middle School. Not only are these the most well behaved students I’ve ever spoken to, but they are also full of smiles and laughter. Motivating them? That was certainly an easy task! These kids are great!
I challenged each school to participate in “Smile Day” on Monday. Each student in the two schools has been given the task of smiling all day long this coming Monday in an effort to act their way into feeling happy. I give them this challenge to experiment with on a Monday because that’s the hardest day to smile, and if you can be happy on a Monday, you can be happy all week long. Happiness is a choice that each and every one of us has to make every day, and these students will CHANGE the attitudes in their schools if they succeed in smiling all day on Monday.
This past weekend, I got to serve as a Disciple Now speaker for Heritage Baptist Church in Texarkana, TX. We had a fantastic weekend, and being a Christian youth speaker is such an amazing opportunity. I loved watching the teens worship and praise God with all of their hearts, and was reminded why our worship as adults needs to be as free as theirs was.
Now, I must tell that I am painfully aware of the dissidence between the Churches of Christ and the Baptist Church. While there are areas of tradition that I treasure, I contend that if you believe in Jesus, then we are in the same wonderful family. I do not share feelings of animosity, and feel strongly that if we all learned how to stop the arguing and start realizing that we have more in common as believers in Jesus than we have to argue you about, God’s family would be a much happier place. I love my brothers and sisters that I met with this weekend, and am honored to have been called the same from their perspective.
I tell you all of that to say that their outpouring of love by the church throwing a birthday party for Hannah simply blew me away. They had a cute cupcake-cake that was formed in the shape of a dog. (Hannah kept asking me what happened to the dog’s nose…and it felt strange to tell her that she had eaten it!) We sang the familiar birthday song, helped Hannah blow out the candles, and had a wonderful celebration. The church members even bought her a baby and stroller set to go along with her collection. She couldn’t have been happier.
I know all churches have differences, and I am not advocating that we agree on everything. However, with both myself and the youth pastor at Heritage Baptist being each raised in a denomination that has historically called the other’s denomination a heresy, I can’t help but feel that the kind of love we experienced is exactly what Jesus was praying for in John 17: 20-21:
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
I continue to be amazed each and every day with the love shown in the family of God.
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