First, turn on the hose… er, shower. Make sure it’s a comfortable temperature, then step in and be ready to get wet!

Once your hair is wet enough, put some shampoo on your hand (about the size of a quarter) and scrub it in until you get a really good lather Be careful not to get it in the eyes! It doesn’t feel very good!

Next, wash your body, making sure to clean every part of you that you can reach. We used our hands, but you can use a washcloth, a bar of soap, or one of those fluffy white things.

Then, scrub your arms and legs. Don’t forget about your armpits!

Finally, wash your feet! Don’t forget to get in between your toes and under your toenails to get out any extra dirt that comes from running around all day.

After your shower or bath give a nice shake to get all that water off… or you can just use a towel.

Before we bathed Otey, we made a chart with all the parts of the body that we wanted to make sure we cleaned. As we gave Otey his bath we marked off each part that we cleaned until the list was covered in X’s.

Just print it out and put it in the bathroom where it’s easily visible.

To download the boys chart click here.

To download the girls chart click here

Share.

The event itself was quite a success with several of our volunteers, in all parts of Friends Life, attending. Thank you to everyone who came and all those who have given us so many reasons to celebrate. Friends Life was able to provide our volunteers with a plentiful spread of lettuce wraps, chicken tenders and wings, chips and salsa, cheesecake, a doughnut cake, fruit tray, chicken salad, pimento cheese and rolls due to the generous partners in our community who donated food, drinks, desserts and supplies. We would like to thank Pei Wei in Green Hills, O’Charley’s on White Bridge Pike, Mafiaoza’s Pizzeria, Puffy Muffin in Brentwood, Chili’s in Brentwood, Sam’s and Costco of Cool Springs, Noshville in Green Hills, Cheesecake Factory in Green Hills, Fox’s Donut Den in Green Hills, Rosepepper in East Nashville and Kroger in Green Hills for contributing to our Volunteer Appreciation Event. Friends Life is so fortunate to have a community that is so generous and giving. Please take some time to thank and support the community partners that support Friends Life.

We want to thank everyone though who has poured their sweat, time, thoughts and hearts into Friends Life Community. Though we know that you don’t volunteer for the recognition, we want to honor you for what you have done for our Friends.

We now have a Volunteer Coordinator, please contact Jeannie Lee at jeannie@friendslife.org if you are interested in getting connected or re-connected with volunteering with Friends Life.

As we celebrated communion the Eucharist together in anticipation of the upcoming holiest of holy days, Easter, it makes such perfect sense to me that we do this within our small community here. Our Friends understand and embrace the concept of living in God’s image and sharing life with one another and even those beyond Friends Life. They are grateful for what Jesus did for them and for all of us. And, they try so hard to live and behave daily as Jesus commanded us.

I know at the end of this day here that I still have much to learn from them and that God has given me, the staff, our volunteers and supporters an important charge to guide and support these lovely people as they continue to explore what unique and beautiful purposes God has imbued in each of them.

Happy Easter to you and your loved ones. Come Sunday, we can all say “He is risen, indeed” and “Alleluia” once again!

Tuesday, March 20 marked the First Day of Spring. Although the air outside was warm and the skies were clear, the Friends Life garden was still looking like it was the dead of winter. In an effort to get the garden ready to bloom for Spring and to bring everyone together to have fun, Friends Life held a Garden Work Day. On Saturday, March 24, Friends Life staff, board members, families and volunteers all gathered to prepare the property gardens for the new season.

Under the guidance of Marian Tidwell, who is better known around Nashville as “The Good Earth Gardener”, volunteers pulled out their shovels and put on their gloves to begin beautifying the property gardens. Two teams worked on the main entrance flower beds clearing weeds and planting flowers and bulbs, while another team planted a rose garden in the back of the building. Volunteers also helped create a bed where our Friends will have their own vegetable garden. The vegetable garden will be used to educate our Friends about healthy eating and give them the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful weather while being active. After four hours of hard work, four lovely revitalized gardens and a new vegetable bed were left.

The day was filled with fun and despite the forecast, was luckily filled with lots of sun. The Friends Life entrance is now more welcoming and beautiful as a result of the help of all of our great volunteers, staff, and families. Our friends now have an even better environment to enjoy and explore while they are with us. We would like to give a special thank you to Marian Tidwell, “The Good Earth Gardener,” for leading our garden work day, AnythingGreen.com for donating several plants, Ted Langston for delivering our plants, and Mike and Daniel Burns for providing us with soil and machinery to arrange our gardens. We would also like to thank to everyone else that hopped out of bed at 8:00am on Saturday to come help us! Stop by and see the wonderful work that they did this weekend. Spring has officially arrived at Friends Life.

As children, we are taught the simple differences between right and wrong by our parents. As we age, those lessons progress into what is socially acceptable. We learn these rules through life experiences. Experiences such as the first time we encounter a child our age that is somehow different than us, but we are not quite sure how. During this encounter, our parents tell us to “not stare and keep moving.” The seed is planted and this is what we learn to do; turn a blind eye. We learn later that this child has an intellectual disability and so we go on through life politely avoiding interaction and conversation with other such people. As we grow older, why do we not dare to take a step closer to take a deeper look? Why? Because, we fear what we do not know or understand.

The majority of us have been miseducated about people with intellectual disabilities or not educated at all. To the uneducated, people with intellectual disabilities boldly challenge that which we think is normal in a frightening way. For many this experience is first encountered at childhood. When the first day of school arrives many are frightened being in a new place with new people and away from the familiar. Even stranger to them may be other children that do not look like them and since they have been taught to avoid they decide not to interact with these other children. Once, however, the child takes the time to get to know these other children they begin to learn that those that seem so different from them are just like them. These other children enjoy playing and laughing and loving just as they do and at heart people are all alike. These same children that were once frightened from those that seemed so different may grow up as advocates for people with disabilities and teach those around them acceptance and inclusion.

In a recent Huffington Post article, “In Defense of Down Syndrome Children…Like My Son,” Gabe Lyons discusses the overwhelming fears that many adults hold about having a child with Down Syndrome and lays this same idea of education and inclusion for those with intellectual disabilities. Lyons believes that “we as humans feel ill equipped to handle the life-altering uncertainty” that will come with raising a child with Down Syndrome. Fear of what lies ahead keeps us from embarking on a new journey searching for beauty in unlikely places and getting out of our comfort zones. Whether a child or a well-lived adult, we all have the opportunity to embrace the unknown and release the fear.

There are three simple things we as adults can do for ourselves and for our children to eliminate the fear and move towards a new age of acceptance.

1. Educate Ourselves
There are many misconceptions about people with intellectual disabilities. The first being they are radically different than the average person and this is not true. We have more similarities than dissimilarities. We all want to be loved, appreciated and accepted. We can educate ourselves by using resources and learning about intellectual disabilities or by taking the time to get to know someone with a disability.

2. Be Inclusive
Do not teach or show polite avoiding, but rather show support and most importantly acceptance. Acceptance begins with inclusion. We may not all have the same interactions with people with disabilities, but there are moments we can shine. We must look at differences as what makes us each so beautiful and special and what ties us together.

3. Highlight the Good
We all have talents and if given the opportunity, we can show them. We must celebrate the abilities of people with intellectual disabilities rather than focusing on their disabilities. We have to remember we all have flaws and we should shine light on others abilities rather than disabilities. We should not fear the unknown or differences, but fear a world without differences that colors us each unique.

You should look forward to the adventure of the unknown, because you may find yourself pleasantly surprised. “We must allow life in our world that doesn’t follow our scripted narrative. We must have the courage to choose that which is good over what is convenient, “said Lyons.

Sources:
In Defense of Down Syndrome Children…Like My Son, Huffington Post, Gabe Lyons

Logan has declared 2012 to be the year he finally gets in shape! He invites you to follow his weight loss journey on Losing with Logan. By joining, you can add his second goal to your list. Logan is pledging $50 per pound lost and asks that you also make a per pound pledge. Your pledge can be one penny or one hundred dollars per pound. All of the pledge money will be given to Friends Life. Thus far, Logan has shed 20.6 pounds and is working to keep the pounds coming off!

Logan has begun one of the most difficult resolutions to keep and achieve. New Year’s resolutions are easy to make and even easier to break. Logan is following simple tips to keep his goal and you too can follow the same tips to reach your goal.

1. Logan has set a specific goal and timeline for his weight loss mission. On December 15, 2012, he will have his final weigh-in. State a specific goal weight for yourself instead of just saying, “I want to lose weight.”

2. Logan has pre-committed to this endeavor by setting his per pound pledge. It is important to pre-commit verbally and mentally to your goal. Pre-commitment leads to fulfillment.

3. Logan has a support system. Having an outside support system helps keep you accountable and focused on your mission.

4. Logan is keeping track of his progress. Each month supporters will receive an official progress report from Logan with an updated photograph. Write down your weight and exercise amount weekly to keep consistent and make sure you’re on the right path.

Your weight loss resolution will be easier to achieve if you follow the above tips with Logan. We hope that you will join Logan on his journey and we wish you luck on yours!

You can email your pledge commitment to admin@friendslife.org. Pledges are due on Logan’s final weigh-in day, December 15, 2012. Please visit https://sites.google.com/site/losingwithlogan/home to learn more about Logan Verner, share and follow his journey.

Follow Logan’s Daily Journey on Twitter: @LosingWithLogan and don’t forget to follow us too @FriendsLife

Yeah, that happened and it was awesome!