Over the summer, we were hit with a triple whammy. Over the course of just a couple of days, we got three letters, one after another. Each one was a punch in the gut, increasing in intensity each time. First, the SSI benefit Sam had been receiving that was our only available option to pay for therapy was being taken away effective the following month. This, just after receiving a letter a couple … [Read more...]
A Day Program Without Walls
A beautiful fall day, colors exploding all around us as Joel and I drive through the sleepy college town of Oxford, Ohio. I'm lost in thoughts about the “day program without walls” we're building for Joel, when Joel’s voice interrupts the anxious flow of what I'm thinking. “Look! The trees are falling!” I'm too immersed in thoughts of what seems like an impossibility to go through the … [Read more...]
Unchanging God In A Changing Special Needs World
Some days are harder than others. We don't do change. You, too? And in our house routine is key. We mostly get up at the same time. We eat the same foods (cheese quesadilla, thank you very much), at the same Mexican restaurant. We watch the same television shows and go to the exact same places, on the same days, week after week. No routine equals mass chaos in our house. Routine comes above all … [Read more...]
When Your Church Doesn’t Miss You
It all began with a rush to the emergency room after school. I called friends from the car asking them to notify our church. I prayed that my triage at home was incorrect, that I was just being overly concerned. Unfortunately, testing revealed that my worries were well-founded. My son was having a life-threatening internal bleed in his hip area. He was hospitalized while a plan was formulated for … [Read more...]
…And Grace My Fears Relieved
Amazing Grace is one of my all-time favorite songs. Written by a former slave-trader who lived a less- than-stellar life before he met Christ, this usage defines grace as God’s eternal, life-saving, undeserved favor. The origins of grace in Latin are related to thankfulness --and in Greek, to rejoicing. God is thankful and rejoices over us when we recognize and accept his graciousness (Isaiah … [Read more...]
The Kids Are Alright
It’s hard not to feel as if the world’s on the brink of collapse these days. Five minutes of the evening news is enough to warrant Zantac. It doesn’t help that I write on policy (among other things), and so I am often online digesting politics with my morning cereal. Guess what? Politics doesn’t naturally lead to gratitude. Who knew. Right now, people seem inscrutable, rhetoric is flammable, … [Read more...]