For those of you with a son or daughter who requires 24-hour care, you know exactly what I'm going to talk about. It is something that those outside of this demographic take for granted. It is something called "privacy". We have very little of it in our world given all of the caregivers in Ben’s world. Without question, these important team members have helped to lighten our load and give Ben a … [Read more...]
The Making of Us
What could have been our undoing has actually become the making of us, our family. It's God's hand in piecing together a family that only he could have woven together. We aren't polished, fancy-pants or hardly anything special from the outside. In fact, we can be fairly obnoxious and messy. And that's on a good day. We walked in the door close to midnight after prom night. Evan had … [Read more...]
Anxious Minds
“I have a theory about Caillou,” Noah says. I have been bent over, picking things up in the front hallway. My three have been away from me, testing the patience of my parents for two weeks while I've finished my next book. So this mess, today? I’m okay with it. It’s proves they’re here. And I’ve missed them fiercely. “Dying, huh? Well, this should be interesting.” I stand up and face him. I … [Read more...]
All About Me
Years ago I was attempting to review the Sunday morning sermon with a younger Evan. It came down to one point. That our lives should be all about Jesus. I said to Evan, "Who's it all about?" His answer? "EVAN!" Yes. Most of our days are all about Evan. But in all honesty I don't want them to be about Evan or even Jesus. I want them to be all about ME. Recently, the bible verse 1 Corinthians … [Read more...]
Transformation!
A Meditation on Psalm 130 When the bottom falls out from under my feet I shout Help, God! I grab onto your life-preserver Word and you respond, not with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but with cellular transformation. Metamorphosis, Body/mind/spirit revolution. Every day I fall, call your name, recall your Word. You scoop me up, remind … [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...]