Impacting a life can happen with out you even knowing. In 2012 we were e-mailed this letter from a teacher, Michael, to 9 News nominating Sergio for the 9WhoCare Award. As a teacher Michael didn’t know how to help a student in a wheelchair and sought Sergio’s help. At the time Sergio didn’t realize he was making an impact on not only a student’s life as well as a teacher.
To Whom It May Concern: November 19, 2012
I write you today to tell you about a person who I feel is very much deserving of being a 9Who Cares winner. My name is Michael Dischner and I am currently a physical education and health teacher at Yuma Middle School in Yuma, Colorado. I teach grade levels 4-8 and have a student who is in the 6th grade who I had thought was confined to a wheel chair. My student has been confined to this wheel chair the entire time I have known him, but it does not discourage him or keep him from being your everyday 6th grader. After seeing how motivated he was and how willing he was to work, our school sought out help from an individual who was also confined to a wheel chair but has not let it slow him down either. That individual’s name is Sergio Sanchez and he truly deserves to be a 9Who Cares winner.
Sergio is currently a manager at a local farm store in Yuma. He also has quickly become a hero. Sergio takes time out of his day to come and work with the student in a wheelchair during his physical education class. Sergio has helped him to not be confined to his wheel chair and has helped teach him how to get in and out of his wheel chair on his own. Sergio has made a commitment that he has fulfilled without seeking any sort of compensation or praise. He now comes 3 times a week to help the student to help strengthen his upper body. Sergio has my student get out of his wheel chair and have him do sit-ups, push-ups, and dips. It is a fun sight to watch the two work together and see how my student has responded and excelled from seeing Sergio throughout each week.
As a staff we approached Sergio because he has been so successful despite his own disability. Sergio was shot in two separate shootings when he was younger. One of those shootings led him to being paralyzed from the waist down. As I have previously mentioned, he now manages a successful ranch store and raises his family of five. With his busy schedule he still finds time to come in.
The student’s lifestyle has completely changed since meeting Sergio. He now comes to physical education knowing that he is going to learn something new that he can apply to his everyday activities. As a physical educator, I did not know how to help him in a way that Sergio has. He has helped him realize that he can still be a part of everyday life and has helped teach him strategies to do so. He has volunteered all this time and he deserves to be recognized. Please consider Sergio Sanchez as a 9Who Cares winner.
Sergio didn’t win this award but he was touched that Michael nominated him. Sergio enjoys sharing his wheelchair knowledge with other’s and letting people know that a wheelchair cannot hold you back in life.
If you have a story to share e-mail thewheelsofgrace@gmail.com it may be featured on our blog!
Here I am, the beginning of February. Ashley who is not at all bossy has asked for an update on my New Year’s resolutions. So proud of that girl!
#1 Not allowing dust to get on my bible. Here is the truth. I have opened it several times while in church and I am diligent in taking notes on scripture, even referring to my notes however, I have not spent as much time in the word as I should. I bought two new daily devotions while at the women leadership conference last month and I have not opened them. Can I have 1/3 of a golden star?
#2 Being still. Okay being real here, I have done very well the past few days on this resolution because I was forced to. After all the running around we have been doing I haven’t had the time to be still until I got knocked down. I caught the stomach flu. Three days in bed gave me time to be still and meditate. So I don’t think this really counts? Well kind of…
#3 Motivate, encourage, and inspire others. I am doing great in this resolution. Golden star for me!!! This has been the easiest one because of all the opportunities Sergio and I have had lately in sharing our story. In opening up our lives to others it has created a connection, making people want to share their story with me. God has set up divine appointment for him to use me to encourage others. I have learned that I will never run out of people that need motivation, prayers, encouragement or my shoulder.
So as you can read I have some work to do. I pray that my next update shows some improvement in keeping the dust off my bible and in being still. Oh and God by the way, I do not need the flu again. How are you keeping up with your resolutions? As I Tread through.
Ashley
I don’t think I have been bossy lately, in fact I think I have been the opposite. However, I assume the bossiness would need to be judged by others. In truthfulness not being bossy is hard. Given that Norah has the flu (and she gave it to me) I cut her some slack but she still managed to write this week. That lady is great!
We are still working hard to write our book! So many people ask me when is it going to be done, and I do not have the answer for that. I am often provided with publishing advice, but in reality it is not ready to be read by other eyes then our own. I am sorry if that is a disappointment, but once it is ready I imagine that you will not be disappointed at all that you had to wait so long. I still have a secret writing project that I hope to tell you more about soon.
Saving money. What a bummer. I have not saved any money, but I also have not spent any money on anything other then what I need. Minus lattes. They are kind of expensive but hard to give up. I cannot give them up but I have cut back on them significantly. Why is saving money so hard? I’m still going to try but I might have set myself up for failure because I am in the process of planning two big trips this year which I know will take all my money. I have never had a shopping problem (some may disagree) but I definitely have a traveling problem, but in my eyes is not a problem to have at all! I’d gladly take any money saving advice you have for me!
Sergio
It’s been difficult living up to my new year’s resolutions, I didn’t think that it would be such a challenge to better myself. But it’s been exactly that, a challenge. Time and everyday life seem to pull in the opposite direction of my goals.
My first resolution reading: This is something that I would like to enjoy. I need a way of escaping the everyday thoughts and paths, a getaway of my everyday habits. I have tried to read in a quiet room but it seems to be more of a chore than a pleasure. It could be the books I’ve selected for myself. I am willing to take suggestions on a few good book selections. Please HELP me!
My second weight loss: I have started to change some habits. I have made sure that I eat breakfast every morning so I have gas in the tank to get through the day (this is what my wife says to me every morning.) I make it a point to come home for lunch so I’m not enticed to put anything in my mouth because its quick. I have to say that I do feel a lot better throughout the day. My next step is to get into some rhythm with a workout or some kind of exercise. I have a membership to the gym now I just need to put down the remote and pull out the card. For me to achieve my goal of losing 50 pounds in a year I need to lose 4.166 pounds per month and 1.04 pounds per week. So it’s time to hit the gym. Any workout ideas or exercise ideas would be welcomed.
My third Prayer: I have to say that I have made the best progress here with my growth in faith. I have spent time in the word reading the bible and I have shared what the Lord has put in my heart with others. Whether it be me getting up in front of a crowd and sharing my testimony, or speaking up at work and asking everyone in the building to pray. The best part so far this year has come from my daughter, Gese, wanting to be baptized. She has shared with me why she wants to be baptized and in a few weeks she will be baptized in the same church that me, Norah, and Ashley were baptized in. This will be a day of celebration. Out of all of my resolutions the one I made to pray 4 times a day has been the easiest. I find myself taking to god all the time, anywhere, and anytime. Maybe I need to tell him to kick me in the butt on my other two resolutions.
I have to remember that my improvements begin with ME and that I am a work in progress!
Today I encourage you to just start somewhere on your self-improvement and Keep Rolling On
Sergio and Norh are are so excited that God as blessed them with the opportunity to share a part of their story at the A Caring Pregnancy Resource Center’s Annual Banquet. They could not think of a better way to start off the new year than being a part of the celebration of life. This fundraising banquet will help counsel and support crisis pregnancies. Please mark your cander and plan to attend. Visits the center’s website at http://neco-cpc.org to find out more.
For the past few months I have been reading The Happiness Project. The author Gretchen Rubin went on a quest to become happier by making resolutions for each month of the year. She wrote a book to document herself following through with her resolutions. She inspired me to start my own resolutions for the New Year and I wanted to document it with Norah and Sergio.
My first resolution is to stop pushing people to do what I want. I have a very bad habit of convincing people my way is the right way especially when it comes to my parents. They call me Cobra Commander because I constantly boss them around and push them to do things that I think will better The Wheels of Grace, they don’t always agree with me immediately.
My typical Ashley thought would be to force them into reading The Happiness Project, but with my new resolution I will not even tell them about the book or why I decided to document our resolutions because
1. They have a list of books I asked them to read months, maybe even years ago and they have not read one of my recommended books.
2. I cannot force people to do what I want.
Here is a list of their resolutions that has no part to do with me at all. I did not edit their resolutions; I did not make suggestions or try to get them to change their resolutions, because I cannot force people to do what I want. See it isn’t even the New Year and I’m already making personal improvements.
Norah
Do not allow dust to get on my bible. Take time to get into God’s Word to learn and grow.
Turn off all the noise in my life weekly. Practice being still and knowing that he is God. Unplug my mind and all of my electronic devices. Meditate!
Help motivate, encourage, and inspire anyone who is in need by listening, praying, supporting, and if crying is required, pass the tissues.
Start to read. Commit to reading at least 1 book every two months = reading 6 books by next year. This will help me to exercise my mind to keep it sharp.
Lose weight. I want to lose 50 pounds by exercising and eating well. I want to participate in a physical event, like a marathon. I want to achieve this so I can show myself that with a plan and a little bit of focus my goal is attainable. I would like to share with others that a strong body comes with a strong mind.
Grow in my faith. I want to pray more every day. I want to make it a point to pray 4 times a day at the least. I want to memorize bible verses to get me through the days.
Unbossy. Stop convincing people to do what I want.
Money. I have a bad habit of spending my money instead of saving. I am often plagued by consumerism and my biggest goal is to put my money towards my student loan debt instead of the usual make-up, clothes, books, and other random items I usually spend it on.
Writing. We are all working hard to finish writing our book. I hope that 2015 is our year. I also have a secret writing project I am currently working on. Details to come soon.
We (or maybe just I) want to follow up with our resolutions and accomplish our personal goals. At the end of January there will be a new post on how we are keeping our resolutions.
We would love to hear your New Years Resolutions. We can try and help you keep them; comment telling us what your resolutions are and we’ll keep in touch with you. If you hold us accountable we’ll do the same for you.
