A Spiritual Growth Course

Attitude

Home Study

What is CBI?

Community Bible Institute is a Christian studies school designed “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12)

To learn more about How CBI works, get a copy of the CBI Handbook at the CBI desk in the church lobby, at the CBI desk in the Tara Center lobby, or by requesting one by email at .

Home Study courses for CBI may be obtained in a hard copy format or may be requested by and delivered as an email attachment.

CBI Courses

Listed below are the courses currently available from CBI – they are available in booklet form and on line. To get an online course, email me at and the course will be emailed to you.

You can also get a copy at the CBI website:

http://cfccbi.vpweb.com

Notice: The course is constantly growing. There may well be additional courses. For a current list of available courses, request them at the email address above.

Attitude

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.

It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

Charles Swindoll

Write a response (your opinion) to this quote: There is no right or wrong answer:

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II.

"I had wanted simply to convey to the reader by way of concrete example that life holds a potential meaning under any conditions, even the most miserable ones. And I thought that if the point were demonstrated in a situation as extreme as that in a concentration camp, my book might gain a hearing. I therefore felt responsible for writing down what I had gone through, for I thought it might be helpful to people who are prone to despair.

Everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedom -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way”

Viktor Frankl – Holocaust survivor

Write a response (your opinion) to this quote. There is no right or wrong answer:

III. With five pairs of legs, I feel 10 feet tall! The boy, 7, who doesn't let a double amputation hold him back.

He has short ones for sitting and climbing and long fancy ones for when he wants to run really, really fast.

Cody McCasland was born without a working set of legs - but now has pairs for just about any occasion.

The seven-year-old has a rare condition called Sacral Agenesis which caused deformities to his spine in the womb.

He arrived without any tibia or knee bones and had to have his legs amputated below the knee at 15 months.

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Growing boy: Cody shows off his different sizes of prosthetic legs - he outgrows them as fast as he gets them

Two months later he was fitted with his first pair of prosthetic legs, and hasn't stopped moving since.

His mother Tina, 36, said: 'Hardly anyone takes to prosthetics so well. It was amazing - it was as if Cody had just been waiting for the chance to have new legs so he could walk.'

Cody now manages to run, swim, play soccer, golf, karate and ice hockey as well as being a boy scout and going rock climbing in his home state of Texas, in the U.S.

Mrs McCasland said: 'We've always said whatever Cody wants to do, we will do our best to let him have that opportunity. He won't let his disability hold him back.'

Cody McCasland is already racing against able-bodied children, and hopes to compete in the Paralympics when he is older

As a result of his condition, Cody also needed surgery for a dislocated hip, stomach, gall bladder and intestinal problems and a hernia, as well as treatment for breathing difficulties and asthma.

His legs are provided for him by the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, a specialist limb centre.

These include the blades for running and 'stubbies' for sitting and playing.

Cody said: 'In my walking legs I can take big steps. In my running legs I can run very fast and jump on one leg.'

His mother added: 'They are very expensive and Cody seems to outgrow them all the time. We're very lucky that we have this specialist centre which provides the running legs.'

In return, Cody's family, friends and supporters compete in marathons to raise money for the hospital. They have so far raised £62,000 ($95,000).

Mrs McCasland and her husband Mike, 37, an internet manager, hope to bring Cody to London in 2012 so he can watch the Paralympics.

Cody's face is joyful as, clutching hands with mum Tina McCasland and dad Mike McCasland he crosses the line at the Dallas White Rock Marathon

The determined seven-year-old, who is already gaining good times for his age range, said: 'I'd love to compete in three year's time at swimming.

'I definitely will take part one day and win a gold medal.'

When Cody, was diagnosed Sacral Agenesis, after being born six weeks prematurely, doctors had warned his parents that he might not live.

Children with the condition usually suffer from a number of difficulties including kidney problems and Cody had to undergo the first of his 15 operations at just three days old.

Over the next two years he faced operations for a dislocated hip, stomach, gall bladder and intestinal problems, a hernia, as well as treatment for breathing difficulties and asthma.

Mr and Mrs McCasland, who also have a daughter Callie, two, were warned by a specialist in Texas that Cody might need both lower legs amputated to give him the chance of walking with prosthetic legs.

Cody also enjoys fishing, along with his many other pastimes

Social worker Mrs McCasland said: 'He said the right leg was missing a tibia and knee cap.

'The fibula was not enough to support Cody's leg and without a knee, he could not bend it.

'His legs just curved round to the side when he was sitting and it just kind of got in his way.

'His left leg, looked more normal, but the knee did not bend. We were told there may be a chance of surgery to fix that leg but there was no guarantee of success.'

But thanks to his prosthetics, Cody takes part in activities with other children in his class and already beats some of them at running.

He is a member of his school swimming team, competing against able-bodied youngsters despite using just his arms.

Mr McCasland said: 'With the help of Challenged Athletes Foundation Cody will be able to travel to other areas and compete against others like himself at a higher level.

'Each year we take him to the Endeavour Games which is an international competition for children and adults with disabilities. He won gold medals in the 60m and 100m sprints this year and gained a fast enough time to enable him to compete in the National Junior Youth Disability Championships.'

Cody currently races against youngsters with just one artificial leg, but double amputees hope there will be a reclassification, allowing them to have their own category in the sport.

He ran 60m last year in 20.03 seconds, and 100m at 33.41 seconds, when he was just six years old. This means he was only five or six seconds behind single amputee record-holders aged nine.

Cody's times at freestyle swimming and back stroke are already impressive at around 30 seconds and 43.63 seconds. He has knocked 30 seconds off his freestyle time since starting swimming last June and is now only a short way behind the nine-year-old record holder.

He has already met his sporting hero, triathlete Rudy Garcia-Tolson, a double amputee who has competed in two Paralympics by the age of just 20.

The courageous youngster, who wants to become a doctor when he is older, said: 'I'm a non-stop runner and no-one can keep up with me.

'I'd also love to swim in a race against Michael Phelps or Rudy Garcia-Tolson one day.'

Cody's amazing achievements as a double amputee are inspiring numerous others from disabled children, to soldiers who have lost limbs in Afghanistan or Iraq.

'We receive lots of requests from people wanting to meet Cody,' revealed Mrs McCasland. 'It really is incredible to see this little boy walking up to grown men and telling them they can do all the things he does.

'Soldiers are just like big heroes to Cody, so he is so excited to meet them. And in a way he's a little hero to them too.'

The young athlete has even inspired the creation of Team Cody, a group of fundraisers who compete in marathons, already raising $95,000 for the Texas Scottish Rite Children's Hospital.

Team Cody has also raised $4,000 for the Challenge Athletes Foundation, which helps disabled sports people.

'As long as Cody enjoys his sports, we'll go on supporting him,' said Mrs McCasland. 'We hope his story helps other kids and adults, and spreads the message that disabled people can do all these things.'

Write a response to this story. What are your feelings about what you’ve read?

IV.
It was hard to tell which was more glorious, the vision that many old-time Hawaiian sports fans have of Charlie Wedemeyer, or the one held by generations of Los Gatos High football players.

Both tell a story about Charlie, who passed away June 3 at age 64, that words fail to express.

On the islands, many can still vividly recall the touchdown Charlie scored against rival Kamehameha in the 1964 Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship football game before a sellout crowd of 25,038 at the old Honolulu Stadium and a statewide television audience.

With the score tied 6-6 in the third quarter, Charlie, Punahou School’s 5-foot-7 senior quarterback, ran down an errant lateral at the 25-yard line and began a weaving, dodging, reverse-field epic of a run that officially went for only 14 yards, but took 30 seconds off the clock and launched Wedemeyer into the status of legends.

Nearly every defensive player had a shot at him, but no one could bring him down before he reached the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown in Punahou’s 20-6 upset victory on Thanksgiving Day.

Years later, another vision would be no less memorable: Charlie, in his role as assistant coach for the Los Gatos frosh-soph team, instructing young quarterbacks on how to properly throw a football.

To emphasize certain mechanics in the player’s throwing motion, Charlie sometimes had players lie on the ground and throw the ball over his wheelchair and mammoth specially-equipped van.

“Just don’t hit him,” friend and fellow assistant Craig Williams would advise the nervous youngsters.

And Charlie would smile.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis couldn’t bring Charlie down. ALS, or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, caused his muscles to waste away and removed his ability to move, speak, eat, and even breathe on his own. But Wedemeyer found a calling, through the disease, that not even he could have foreseen.

The transition and the sacrifices were difficult. They were full of heartache and tears. Insecurity and fear. Charlie, after all, was a man who had taken great pride in his physical ability to do what few others could even dream of. And it was all taken away.

The life-and-death struggle was constant, but the ordeal evolved into a lifetime of self-discovery, an appreciation of life’s subtleties and a humbling bond with Jesus Christ.

Because of these things, the man who could not speak, spoke the loudest. Charlie became a magnet to those who were broken, to those who hungered for an understanding ear and a compassionate soul.

The man who had every right to wallow in self-pity somehow brought laughter to others, through his eyes, a funny face, or a practical joke.

Rookie nurses experienced this first-hand. When they timidly attempted to suction his throat for the first time, Charlie would make a face and rolled his head in agony, causing the nurse to scream. Even Charlie could not keep a straight face.

Halloween, birthdays, costume parties, Charlie was always a willing participant. And the house seemed to be the most popular one on the block, even to the consternation of a neighbor or two. And no roasted pig ever tasted better than at Charlie’s.

Charlie spent his days memorizing recipes by watching the cooking channel, and nights instructing nurses on the proper way to prepare teriyaki chicken. For someone who couldn’t eat, he sure loved food.

At one football practice, he discovered that the father of a freshman player owned a Chinese restaurant. Through Williams, he called the player over and for the next half hour, while the boy should have been practicing, Charlie asked him to recite the entire menu, raising his eyebrows at every item and salivating the entire time.

His family and grandchildren were his joy, and his teams were his pride. Football players, students, old friends, new friends, all would stop by and see the coach. And anyone who entered the front door became family, or ‘ohana, in the Hawaiian culture. That’s just the way Charlie was raised.

Charlie was born on Feb. 19, 1946, in Honolulu as the youngest of Bill and Ruth Wedemeyer’s nine children.

While older brother Herman Wedemeyer, a football star at Saint Mary’s College, would set the athletic standard of excellence for the family, Charlie became a three-sport star at Punahou – in football, basketball, and baseball – while earning nine varsity letters.

Charlie was a three-time ILH football All-Star and 1964 ILH Player of the Year, and a basketball first-team All-Star. He led the Buff ‘n Blue to league titles in football (1964), basketball (1964), and baseball (1965), where he played second base, and would be selected by the Honolulu Advertiser as the Hawaii Prep Athlete of the Decade.