Yesterday, most of us in the US had to spring forward our clocks one hour. This is a love/hate moment for me. I hate to spring forward and lose 1 hour of sleep, my body takes about a week to adjust and mourn the loss…. BUT the love part is that I get about 2-3 hours more lighted time in the evenings to ride my bike and to do more active things outdoors. I know us moms and dads struggle … [Read more...]
Pick Your Battles: when losing doesn’t have to mean loss
Parenting experts have been known to quip the phrase “pick your battles.” In my experience as a special needs parent, however, the problem isn’t just about which battles to fight, but knowing when it’s okay to lose. Long ago I surrendered the battle with my autistic sons over a healthy diet in favor of settling for almost anything that would keep my picky, OCD eaters alive and breathing. … [Read more...]
Nothing Is Impossible: Miss Montana Alexis Wineman Redefines Autism
Read below for a guest post from Ron Sandison. “For nothing is impossible with God.” - Luke 1:37 Cut Bank, Montana, the hometown of auburn-haired, shy beauty, "Miss Montana" Alexis Wineman, is a small community with a population of 3,000. Alexis and her twin sister, Amanda, were born five weeks premature. Kim and her husband, Michael, quickly noticed a neurological difference between Alexis and … [Read more...]
Healing Prayers and Promises in Disability Parenting
I just finished reading a national bestseller on prayer that, frankly, was very hard to finish. What grieved me most was a story about a pastor who counseled a young couple of a child with autism. The pastor opened his Bible to a random page, read a random passage of scripture about Abraham’s offspring forever speaking God’s word, and then claimed it as a promise that this couple’s nonverbal child … [Read more...]
When There Is More Than One Diagnosis
Lightning can and does strike the same place twice. Ask me how I know. For too many years I subscribed to the delusional belief that if I endured some sort of remarkable challenge, I would be exempt from future struggles or trials. God has made it a life-long lesson to show me the error of my ways, and to reveal the incredible difference He can make with lives that are completely dependent upon … [Read more...]
When Life Is Not a Hallmark Card
It’s true. Misery loves company. And probably the reason one of my favorite shows is The Middle, a sitcom about the misadventures of a mid-western family not very unlike my own. Duct-taped appliances? Special needs teens and a seat-of-the-pants mother? Check. It’s a show that makes me laugh because the Hecks (or rather their script writers) “get it”. Life is a daily walk into the precarious … [Read more...]