"The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows." ~Sydney J. Harris

"Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em,

'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it."
- Theodore Roosevelt

JSP is off to school! The most common response we've received from our vision casting season has been- "If your going to help grieving families, then you'd better educate yourself and be the best at what you do!" No question to that - you can never get enough training, especially in the area of grief. From the very beginning we saw that education and training would be the key components to creating an effective grief program. Our hope is to help others to see more than their reflection in the mirror, see it as a window of opportunity to live life with purpose! Replacing the mirror with a window!!!

When our mirror turned into a window we saw a need in the community for a grief program. I do no like the fact that we ever saw this need, but now that we do , we must press forward and make our dream a reality. Life "schooled" us on a horrific lesson, one that can not be learned in a classroom. Now that we have learned the lesson, we see the importance of going back to the classroom.

“The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.”

- Tom Bodett.

The lesson learned? Grief is hard, and education is greatly needed. We talk to families all the time who are aimlessly wandering through grief. How grief effects the family is very complex. Many life altering issues effect the foundation of a family. Marital, parental and financial just name a few. We want to provide a plan that will educate the family as a whole on the issues they will be facing. Our main goal is to dig up all seeds of bitterness planted as a by product of not understanding the bigger picture and God's plan.

Our next few steps this summer is to acquire more knowledge. This week we are attending a conference in California that is offering education on grieving children and families. We are very excited to add this next layer of education to JSP's portfolio. We hope to return with many new resources for the grieving families in our community. There are two classes that I am very excited about: #1 The difference between the way parents and children grieve. #2 How ADD, ADHD and learning disabilities effect a grieving child ( I believe this topic is uncharted territory and needs to be addressed!)

Please pray that this week will bear much fruit. I will check back in during the week to keep you updated.

Dear super friends, Thank you again for all your support!

Love- Smith and Julie