Divine Appointments, Dyslexia and “Set Apart”

A few years ago, in a Sunday morning sermon, I first heard the term “divine appointments.” All these years later, my definition of the term is, “meeting the right person, at the right time and it being so important that it couldn’t just be coincidence, and in my opinion, God had something with making sure our paths crossed.”

Since that sermon, I’ve had a reminder in my phone every day to “pray for divine appointments.” I wish I could say that every time that reminder went off, I stopped what I was doing and prayed a quick prayer, but in reality most of the time I used the excuse that I was too busy or too distracted. However, there are several days that I do pray that prayer, and days like today that prayer works its way into reality.

You may have seen on Facebook that today I was at the Indiana Toy and Comic Expo. I met lots of neat people, and new Super Penguin fans, but the meeting that will stand out today was with Heather. Heather asked some questions about the book, making sure it was appropriate for “her kids.” See, Heather, a former nurse, left the medical field years ago to start working at Set Apart, a program through the Salvation Army that works on reading skills with kids struggling with dyslexia. We started talking about dyslexia and I learned a ton. What really pulled at my heart is the ripple effect of what dyslexia can lead to later in life. I kept researching after our conversation. Here’s some things I learned.

• About 20% of people suffer from dyslexia.
• According to a study at the University of Texas, about 48% of incarcerated people suffer from dyslexia.
• According to another study by the American Association of Suicidology in Bethesda, MD, about 5% of teenagers had either suicidal thoughts or had attempted suicide.
• According to the same study, 19% of teenagers with dyslexia had suicidal thoughts or had attempted suicide.
• Many suicide notes that are found after a person has committed suicide, show dyslexic patterns.

Bottom Line. Teaching these kids to read could literally keep people out of prison and save lives.

I was quickly drawn to this cause and this has lit a fire in my heart. I don’t know how (yet) but Super Penguin and myself are going to be a part of helping kids with dyslexia. Heather and I briefly talked about some ideas with Set Apart and I can’t wait for those next steps, and I’m actively looking for ways to help kids closer to home too.

If you’d like to learn more about Set Apart CLICK HERE! And if you’re reading this and have a connection to a literacy program PLEASE send me some information on the contact page. I want to help any way that I can!

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