"I've got a sinus infection," I texted the friend who was picking me up at an unfamiliar airport in an unfamiliar town. "Do you have any antibiotics?" "We've got your back," she replied. She wasn't kidding. When she delivered me to our destination, she and my other friends had arranged an array of medications on the bathroom counter—everything and more than I needed to beat the nasty bug … [Read more...]
4 Special Needs Parenting Truths
Our newest grandchild arrived at the end of January. She's 8 1/2 pounds and 20 1/2 inches of pure snuggle sprinkled with dark, curly hair. Because her parents and brother live in the apartment below us, we see and hold her almost every day. Her life thus far has been free of special needs or disabilities, other than tummy distress and a nasty diaper rash after her mommy ingests soy. Even … [Read more...]
Every Believer’s Loneliness Ministry
Loneliness. Every school day of my childhood I saw it written on Dad's face when Mom, my siblings, and I hurried out the door. Even now, I close my eyes and can see him sitting in his wheelchair at the kitchen table, sipping coffee through a straw and waving good-bye. His grin couldn't hide his dread of spending another day with only the television to keep him company. In fact, Dad's face came … [Read more...]
God’s Enabling Grace for Parents of Kids with Special Needs
God's enabling grace wasn't what my husband and I expected to see when we attended Dr. Paul Tripp's marriage video series, What Did You Expect?, at our church. After all, we reassured one another, we weren't attending to shore up our marriage. But as part of the research for my new book for special needs families that includes a marriage component. As you might expect, the Holy Spirit used the … [Read more...]
God Is With Us on the Way to Bethlehem
A few short days after Christmas, my daughter will serve as chauffeur to what we both hope will be my final doctor's appointment since breaking my foot almost 3 months ago. While we are both excited to hear that I can resume driving and other duties she's taken on during my convalescence, we're also apprehensive about the 30 mile drive to the hospital and clinic. Because my daughter is, as the … [Read more...]
When Disability Reveals the Depths of My Dependence
This year, I cooked Thanksgiving dinner in a wheelchair. Not to raise funds for my favorite disability organization. Not as a show of solidarity with my friends who get around in wheelchairs. Not in memory of my father, who used a wheelchair to get around for 38 years. No, I cooked Thanksgiving dinner in a wheelchair because I'm clumsy. So clumsy that I fell getting out of the car, … [Read more...]