Mrs. Kravitz – an iconic TV character from the TV show “Bewitched” – was a frequent nickname given to my college roommate’s boyfriend (now husband).  Tim* was constantly spying on others, just like the fictional Gladys Kravitz.  While my roommate Patricia* and I were sprawled out on our twin beds studying or talking late into the night, Tim would often be crouching in our closet because he claimed to be able to hear everything going on in our neighboring roommate’s quarters.  I can’t count the number of times Tim would be sitting across from me in a restaurant booth and I would notice, in the middle of telling a riveting story, that he had no idea what I was saying.  He was concentrating on everything being said in the booth behind us.  He loved to go places just to people- watch, and when I took over his apartment lease when he and Patricia got married, he called me into the kitchen to show me that if I stood on my tiptoes at the corner of the window, I could see straight into the downstairs apartment across the parking lot.

Tim had an unquenchable curiosity about life.  If you take away the sugar coating, that means he was nosy.  I can’t, though, pretend to be completely innocent in his shenanigans.  He often wove an interesting yarn with the info he procured, and I relished the tales.

I had the privilege of spending time with my old friends over the holidays, and reminiscing brought Tim’s prying eyes and ears into focus.  Well first, I had a really good giggle about it all since we are WAY too mature and sophisticated for any of that business NOW.  But just the same, I’m glad there are no flies on the wall when I hang out with them.  What I realized, though, is that I want to be a Mrs. Kravitz.  I want to take the intense curiosity Tim applied to spying on neighbors and strangers and apply it to my study of Jesus Christ – with one major difference.  Whereas Tim snooped simply to satisfy his own inquisitiveness about people, I am seeking more than knowledge of Jesus.  I want to know Him better so that I can be more like Him.  “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”  2 Corinthians 3:18 NASB  AS IN A MIRROR!  That is how transformed I want to be.

I want to talk to Him and listen to Him more intently.  Only then will I sound more like Him.  I want to spend more time reading His word.  Only then will my words be His.  I want to observe Him through His deeds and the testimony of others.  Only then will I be able to quickly recognize Him.  AS IN A MIRROR!  Oh Lord, may it be so.

*All names changed to protect the not-so-innocent

Inclusion – the educational approach wherein students with special needs spend time with non-disabled students – was not a thing when I was in school.  There were a handful of kids like my daughter Shelby at my elementary school, but they were kept completely separated.  I would occasionally see them across campus, moving in a group from place to place, but I never interacted with them.  And even though my school was small, I didn’t know most of their names.  What wasted opportunities.

I grew up uncomfortable, even afraid, around people who were different than me.  I had to be forced to spend time with a relative who was seriously injured in a motorcycle wreck.  He loved people, but he was awkward and difficult to understand, so I didn’t want to be around him.  It is embarrassing and painful to admit that, now that I have a child who is awkward and difficult to understand.

With the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Act came laws about LRE or least restrictive environment.  This means that a student who has a disability (physical, mental or both) should have the opportunity to be educated with non-disabled peers, to the greatest extent appropriate.  In Shelby’s case, she gets to go to regular art and P.E. classes with the assistance of peer buddies.  She gets to go to pep rallies and eat in the cafeteria with everyone else.

I’m sure there are many reasons why this type of inclusion is beneficial for the special needs student, but I have come to believe that it’s even more beneficial for typically developing students.  The Best Buddies organization is raising up a generation of kids who look for the blessing behind the disability.  Students today have had classmates with special needs around them as long as they have been in school.  It’s all they know.  Where I was nervous and timid around the differently-abled, these teens jump at the chance to take my daughter to a dance, party or sporting event.  Shelby calls them her “friends” and I truly believe that’s what they are.  Caring for someone as impacted as Shelby takes a level of maturity and unselfishness that I certainly didn’t possess at that age.  I see it in Shelby’s younger sister.  She deals with a special needs sibling at home, and yet chooses to volunteer with the special education class at her middle school.

I am so thankful for the changes in our educational system and the programs that teach our youth that ALL people have value, regardless of ability.