Raising a child with a chronic illness, disability or special need can often be a bone-achingly isolating existence. The stares, exclusion, judgment, and hurtful comments can sometimes make caregivers like us feel like we are serving time in a penal colony, far from the comfortable normalcy of the average family. Without realizing it, well-meaning family and friends can push us further to the … [Read more...]
Love Your Enemies
Read below for a guest post from Kathy McClelland. I was anxious. Deeply anxious. Jittery anxious. Anxious in a way that made the back of my legs tingle and my stomach churn with fear. I had zero appetite. There's no doubt this particular week was stressful because of extra appointments, hard conversations, end-of-school activities, and an unexpected illness. However, my level of anxiety … [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...]
The Special Needs Grandparenting Tug of War
I will never forget the day my mother and mother-in-law played their first round of grandma tug-of-war. With our two-week-old son as the rope. The competition was held at my parents' home. We stayed there for a few weeks after our baby was dismissed from NICU before taking him to the remote corner of South Dakota where we lived 90 miles from the nearest hospital. My husband's mother, who lived … [Read more...]
God Doesn’t Need My Kid To Beat the Odds
It was so definitive, those conclusive words of the neurologist: "He will never walk or talk. In many ways he is incompatible with life." Calvin was less than one and I was more than hopeful. I would sit up late at night reading stories of kids pushing far past their prognosis, astounding doctors with abilities they never thought possible. I looked down every avenue that offered hope. … [Read more...]
Giving and Taking Away
If you can watch your child slip into the pseudo-coma of anesthesia and not get teary-eyed, you are a better parent than me. Because my face immediately started leaking. This MRI was a long time coming. For four years, my son has complained of right leg pain. After no longer tolerating the “growing pains” explanation of our doctor, (or Jesse’s nocturnal wailings that “my leg hurts!”), … [Read more...]