I will be the first one to tell you that my children with disabilities have inspired me. My youngest daughter with Down syndrome has been my teacher of life in many ways. Every time my daughter with cerebral palsy falls down and gets back up it makes me think about the times I give up so easily in life. But my typical daughter has done that for me too, she has inspired me, she has pushed me to be … [Read more...]
Why Women’s Conferences Need to Consider Moms of Kids With Disabilities
I spoke at a Christian Women’s Conference last weekend. There were more than 600 women in attendance and as statistics would suggest, there were several women who parent kids with disabilities. We connected, we shared, we laughed, we cried together. Every time I attend a Women’s Conference I walk away thinking, “There should be a workshop in all women’s conferences designed for mothers of kids … [Read more...]
Siblings: So Full of Love
“Mom, sometimes, when I look at Nichole she is so cute that I feel like crying because my heart is so full of love.” There are times I look at my children and I feel like crying because of the intense love I feel for them. It is a love so hard to contain that it spills out in tears. I get this feeling, I am a mom. However, coming out of the mouth of Ellie, my 6-year-old daughter, it surprised … [Read more...]
Body and Soul, She Is Marvelously Made
When my daughter was born with Down syndrome, our friends came to visit us at the hospital. Our oldest daughter was staying with them and they had brought Ellie to meet her baby sister. Our friends brought their daughter along too, she was the same age as our oldest, and like our youngest, she has Down syndrome. While we visited in the hospital room, we talked about how God had orchestrated … [Read more...]
Breath Of Heaven the Special Needs Way
Amy Grant’s Christmas CD has been my favorite since it first came out in 1994. I've listened to it so many times the last 21 years that as soon as the first chords of one of the songs comes up on the radio, I know right away it's one of Amy’s. You know it was a great album when those songs are still playing today. Eight Christmases ago, my daughter was only two months old when she … [Read more...]
I Am Thankful: The Special Needs Way
When my daughter was born with Down syndrome, I never imagined that someday I would be thankful for her diagnosis. At the time of her birth, our future seemed bleak and limited. But disability was so different from what I thought it would be, and years later, there is so much I am thankful for. I am thankful disability is not the horrible green eyed monster I thought it was I was scared … [Read more...]