Finding peace when your heart is breaking is difficult. Many of us have lost loved ones or are struggling just day to day and sometimes the holiday stressors can feel so heavy and we are more sensitive because of all the busyness. It doesn't feel that long ago when I sat and watched my son gasp for breath in the hospital, he was barely one year-old. He had asthma and when it came boy it was … [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...]
We’ve Moved to KeyMinistry.org
We are now part of the Key Ministry family and all our new content will be featured there. We'll leave this site up as a resource and hope you'll join our team of writers at our new home. … [Read more...]
Evolution and Hard Decisions
Parenting is synonymous with change. Our children grow and learn; they achieve and alter. And when they are special needs children, their bodies and abilities are in constant evolution. Change is rarely comfortable. Jesse’s original diagnoses include PDD-NOS, ODD, OCD, and ADHD. Some of those acronyms will change as he grows. Some – if God sees fit – might disappear. New ones could be added. … [Read more...]
Hope After High School
Psalm 17:6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. I remember years ago when my son Charlie was just under 2, before his autism diagnosis, we had started a 529 Savings Plan for both of my children to help save towards college. I was excited that we were starting early and hopeful by doing this we would be able to pay for their college years later … [Read more...]
Thankful for the Disability Trenches
Nobody is thankful for the disability trenches. No thank you for wiping rear ends way past the expected age range or getting hair pulled out during a meltdown. I don't see the praises for IEPs that haven't really changed in years because the level of learning is pretty much the same year after year. And no Hallelujah for when high school is finished for the virtually unemployable. We only hear … [Read more...]