An uninvited guest showed up at my door ten weeks ago. Its name? Endometrial cancer. Every time I sit down to write about this unwelcome guest my brain turns to cotton candy, words get stuck in the gummy mess, and a blinking cursor on the computer screen sings nah-nah-nah-nah-nah. My brain may feel like cotton candy, but at the soul level substantial work is … [Read more...]
Are You There God?
Often times when things are going good we don’t talk to God as much, but when things start to crumble we look to Him and often ask “why” or “how come.” My journey through life in my 46 years so far has had some ups, downs, curves, twists, turns, and sometimes sharp drops out of nowhere. I grew up primarily in a divorced home with 2 parents that were struggling in their own right. Before age … [Read more...]
The Prayer Quilt
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness. Isaiah 61:10a When Joel arrived home from school today I wrapped a tangible answer to prayer around his bulky, eighteen-year-old shoulders. A prayer quilt, stitched and knotted with prayers for peace; for physical, mental … [Read more...]
When Our Own Health Is In Crisis
Unexpected. That's what I say when people ask how my summer's been. Not that I don't expect seasons to cycle and summer to come and go each year. It's just that I didn't expect to go in for a routine appointment with my own doctor and discover, after a half-dozen scans and tests, that I've got a fast-growing fibroid that may be malignant growing in my uterus. Or that I'd spend the past few … [Read more...]
Something to Offer
Why are you here? No, I don't mean for what purpose do you exist. What brought you to reading this post? This blog exists for the primary purpose of encouraging special-needs parents. Special-needs parents walk a very different path from that of others with more typical children. We often feel isolated from the world, and from each other. Here, through this blog and that of many others, we find … [Read more...]
Family Life with Autism: Welcome to the Cincinnati Zoo
I’m jolted from sleep when the heat-seeking-body-missile of my 24-year-old son lands next to me on the bed. I pry open sleep-encrusted eyes to encounter Joel’s face, two inches from my own. He grins, giving me an up-close view of his smile crinkles, just like his dad’s; little fans on either side of his baby blues. “Zoo today!” he crows. “Zoo, zoo, zoo, Cincinnati zoo, zoo, zoo!” Like many … [Read more...]