Special Olympics Bowling

Today our sophomore class went to volunteer with Special Olympics bowling.  It was a great experience.  At first I was very nervous because they were all adults. Which is a little bit intimidating. I learned that you really just have to talk to them and encourage them and they love it.  I had one of the guys say to me "I just came to have fun;  it doesn't matter what my score is."  This is a great attitude to have.  I watched and a lot of them would do really good, and they wouldn't even care. They seemed to have a great perspective on what was really important, not the score, but meeting new people and having fun. I never have really had the desire to go help with special needs people, but this experience has given me a desire to help more.  Most of the time when people see a person with special needs, they tend to try to avoid them, and not talk to them.  But they are people just like us. We need to reach out to these people more and stop migrating away from them. I really admired the coaches that came with the adults.  They were very patient and helpful. One of the guys that was in my group didn't talk. I don't know if he couldn't or he just didn't like to. He finally said "hi" one time after his coach was trying to make him say it.  It was very hard to get any response from him. I wasn't for sure if he understood what I was saying.  It was hard to communicate with him.  He finally began to smile and show emotion. I feel like this is sometimes what I am like with God. He is talking to me but I don't clue in to what He is saying. This was a great experience and it really opened my eyes to the needs of these people, and all the things that I can do to help.