One year ago today, my baby girl and I were in St. Louis for a major and life-changing surgery for her. Back then, I shared some of what we were feeling in a post here. Here’s what God’s taught us in the year since I sent her back with Dr. Park and his surgical team: We are called to be faithful, not fruitful. We went into this surgery knowing it was right for Zoe but with no way of knowing … [Read more...]
Max’s Go2 Team!
I’m letting you in on the start of a God-inspired project. I don’t know how it’s going to play out, but I do know one thing: life with special needs requires a team. So that’s exactly what we’re doing – building a team around our family. A few weeks ago I bravely sent a letter to 9 people in Max’s life inviting them to be a part of this team – teachers, buddies from church, family. I’ve … [Read more...]
I’ll Get You Home
"Seizure- full blown- I’m on it.” I texted those words to my wife with one hand, as I ripped my seatbelt off with the other hand. Earlier this morning at breakfast, my wife had noticed our son was especially restless and agitated. “He’s out of sorts this morning,” she had said. We had attended church together, and on the way home, we stopped at the grocery store for the weekly shopping. … [Read more...]
Victory in the Seeming Loss of Special Needs Advocacy
It was a verbal game of chess. Winner takes all. If my son won the argument, we would return home. If I won, we would get out of the car and walk into the church. When John added a new reason why he didn’t want to go inside, I was sure he’d made a fatal mistake. He said he felt “stood up,” as he attended church each week. I countered with a correction, “’Stood up’ means showing up and no one is … [Read more...]
Power In The Body of Christ
Have you ever had one of those days (weeks, months) where you just felt like giving up? Yup. I thought so. We all have days, weeks or months like that. Especially those of us who live with children or adults with significant disabilities. Our son Joel, who has autism, has been having a rough time lately. A hospitalization for depression last fall. A 6 week manic spurt this spring that … [Read more...]
The Gift of Not Feeling Alone
The only parenting stage I have ever hated is potty training. I have loved it once our kids are independent in the bathroom, but every. single. step. before that is painful. Sometimes I joke that the best part of adopting older kids is that we skipped that stage with three of our six children. I’ve been afraid to say this out loud but I think we’re at that stage for Zoe. She’s interested. … [Read more...]