A Bag and the Green Guy

Dressed in Green

Do I Still Look Like "The Hulk"?

(No Need to Answer--It's a Rhetorical Question.)  :)

Psalms 19:14 NIV

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."

In 1985 I was met in a classroom by two special education teachers, who consulted with me before my assignments as a brand new hospital homebound teacher for two students who had recently been suspended from school for the rest of the year.

One for frightening children at the bus stop; the other for attacking her special education teacher.

They illustrated how to defend myself if I were attacked and advised me of my rights as an educator. By the time they had briefed me on the students, I was scared to death.

The first student was a sixteen year old boy who had Tourette's Syndrome.

I found him to be a gentle soul as well as intelligent. Apparently his "offense" had been to walk his younger siblings to the bus stop to make sure they safely got on the bus. However, his uncontrollable twitches scared the neighborhood children.

Because he was a sensitive soul, the next day after the children complained about him, he appeared at the bus stop with a paper bag over his face. He was ordered to stay home for good at that point.

Throughout my time with him, he never experienced a Tourette's episode. He worked patiently with me, and his mother was a constant support to us both. I decided the teachers had described a different child to me.

The second student was a seventeen year old girl with the understanding of a kindergartner at best.  She was large and powerful; however, I was larger than she. I don't think I was as strong, but she was intimidated by my size.

I worked with her for two months but was unable to accomplish our educational goals for her. However, she never attacked me.

In fact, she called me "The Hulk".  At that time, Bill Bixby's show, The Incredible Hulk was popular on television, and she loved that green guy.

She identified me with him, which was fine with me. That was probably the one time in my life where my size worked in my favor.

After my duties were over with the students, the two teachers asked how the kids had been.

"Fine" I told them.

They couldn't believe their ears. They seemed disappointed I had no horror story to report. No gossip to add to their fuel. No label to put in their files.

I think back to those special needs kids and others I have worked with over the last twenty-odd years of my career, and rarely have I had problems with them. I try to ignore others who want to "tell" me about them. 

Honestly, there are many days I'd also love to put a bag over my face and hide from the world or turn into a big green monster and shout:

"Enough already with all this killing and fighting and protesting. Let's start loving each other again!"

Then I remember God is in control. He knows how all the madness will end. Everything will be fine in the end.

Furthermore, He knows me; he doesn't label me. He sees me just as I am through all the masks I put on for the world.

And by the way, if God were to label me "SPECIAL," I think I would feel really flattered.

Yeah, now I think about it, I want to be one of God's Special Kids.
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Lord-Thank you for looking past my masks, into my heart, and loving me for who I am.