My IEP

IEP-to some of us it's a familiar term and, although the first time I was made aware of the need for one and had that subsequent feeling of "ugh", it's a good term. It means that my child will get the help they need to succeed despite their personal difficulties that make learning more of a challenge than for the average student.

The term stands for individualized educational plan. And in it's simplest concept "it is designed to meet the unique educational needs of one child, tailored to the individual student's needs and must help teachers understand the student's disability and how the disability affects the learning process. In other words, the IEP should describe how the student learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning and what teachers will do to help the student learn more effectively."

It is personalized instruction based on the student's abilities.

Don't we all posses a particular set of strengths and weaknesses, of ability and disabilities?

I've no doubt there is an IEP filed in heaven in my name...

Strengths: a quick learner, good comprehension, eager to understand
Weaknesses: short memory, needs concrete reinforcement of concepts, prone to wander
Accommodations: continual reinforcement by concrete examples of previously understood concepts, gentle patience on the part of the instructor along with unconditional and unfailing love.

If we, in our finite wisdom, can craft IEP's and provide specific instruction so that each student can succeed why would we doubt for a moment that Almighty God is able to speak to us so that we can hear and understand Him?

What He uses to speak to my heart may not be the same way He reaches you. While I may learn quickly and forget just as quickly perhaps you need to wrestle with a concept for a long time until you make it you own but then you never forget. While I am prone to distraction perhaps once you are engaged you are fiercely focused. The beauty of this is that it doesn't matter how we learn but that we will.

Isaiah 44:21 says, "I, the Lord, have made you, and I will not forget to help you." What reassurance!

In Psalms 139 we find that "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb."

God knows your unique mix of abilities. He made you that way.
He knows your love language for it is He that gave you that particular way of hearing and expressing love.
He knows your name.
He knows your heart and He's promised over and over again that if we turn our hearts to Him, if we seek Him, that we will find Him. And I promise that He will present himself to you in exactly the way you need to be able to see Him, because that is the very reason we were created and the message of Calvary; God wants us to be in relationship with Him.

You know the old joke of don't ever pray for patience because... :)
Sometimes God does bring the storm to get our attention, but that is not His only educational tool. He can speak to us in a still quiet voice through His Word, through a friend, a song, a sermon, a book, a moment of clarity, or the inspiration of nature.
God is the master teacher.
He knows how you learn, how you listen,and how to bring you down the path of your own journey of faith making you more like Christ until you are safely home.

I created you and cared for you before you were born.
I will be your God throughout your lifetime-until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you. Isaiah 46:3