Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. (Psalm 118:1) These are the first words I read in my devotional book this morning as I sit on the beach, alone, disappointment hanging over me like a big, black cloud. I watch the waves ebb and flow, leaving rainbow-flecked foam in their wake. I want to give thanks to the Lord, but disappointment makes thanksgiving almost … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Get It All Done
Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8 I wake up every Monday morning a little anxious. Ok if we are being real here, I wake up Monday mornings more than a little anxious. Mondays for me can feel a little overwhelming with reviewing all I have to get done for the week. It starts really on Sunday evenings. Do you ever feel that … [Read more...]
The Surprising World of Attachment Issues in My Adoption
Like a punch in the stomach was the excruciatingly hard reality of fostering. The journey was just beginning. How his past trauma and lack of attachment impacted his brain functioning took us by surprise. The child was dangerously impulsive, respected no boundaries, and did what he pleased to the point of manipulation—at three! Yet at the same time he was very infantile in his mannerisms. I … [Read more...]
The Sprinkled Blessings of Living with Autism
One snowy Saturday my fourteen-year-old son Joel and I bundled up to visit Janet, a friend just home from the hospital. Eight short weeks before, Janet had a stare-down with death and won. Joel didn’t really know Janet. She was an old friend of mine who lived out of town during much of his childhood. When she moved back to Cincinnati, we only saw each other once or twice a year. And yet, “Let’s … [Read more...]
Doing Things Differently … Again
As a mom to a son with autism, I'm no stranger to doing things differently. We learned a "new normal" even before he was diagnosed, even though it took years to come to terms with it. (That's a whole other story.) But along the way, our "new normal" kept changing. And now, our "normal" is waaaaay different than how we started. It's not completely unlike what parents of non-special needs kids … [Read more...]
The White Noise of Disability
It’s my birthday. What do I want, you ask? A little peace and quiet. That’s all. I want the fighting to stop, and the doors to stop slamming, and the dogs to stop barking, and the hollering for “can you bring me up a whatever” to just cease for a blasted minute, because kids are loud, and ours are louder. They are a next-level kind of loud. The loud of special needs and mental illness that … [Read more...]