“Do you want to hold him?” The nurse handed your newly born body to me and placed you in my trembling arms. I remember looking down at you for the very first time and whispering, “I’m your dad, I’m here to take care of you.” I thought about that experience many times this week as you turned eighteen. In an instant I went from having a child with special needs to being the parent … [Read more...]
lessons learned post-surgery
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...]