A month ago I took a huge risk with my special needs family. And it paid off. It began almost twenty years ago when, as a 21 year old exchange student in Europe, I discovered the needs of people across the globe through weekly prayer meetings. My heart began to beat for villages with no clean water, societal violence toward women, entire groups of people ignored and left to die because of their … [Read more...]
Special Needs Parent, You Still Matter
I’m going to tell you something now, and you might want to sit down before I do: You still matter. And not just matter—you are precious. Author Julie Barnhill reminds us that this is true, even amidst painful circumstances: “God watched over our construction from toes to fingertips to hair roots, and he has designed each of us to be exquisite, unequaled, and beyond compare. But it will always be … [Read more...]
What if we actually learned to rest?
Can I tell you a secret? I was ecstatic when the kids went back to school last week after Christmas break. This is, of course, not a shocker to you at all. But do you know why I was glad? It wasn't because my routine-craving kids were back to the routine. Or that I could sit still longer than 3 minutes without some sort of emotional or social crisis erupting among my four girls. Or even that I … [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...]
Managing Our Own Special Needs: Perfectionism
You probably already know this, but the best way for your family to transform into psychos is to try to get them to church on time. And, when you're like us, raising kids with any kinds of special needs, the last 5 minutes before departure for church is the perfect time for your 10 year old to soil herself, deny it, and require United Nations-level negotiating skills to get her out of her beloved … [Read more...]
“If you’d just try. . .” {And other comments that make us want to scream}
With 4 kids under 12 years old, who have companion terms like foster/adopt, bipolar, RAD, ODD, SPD, ADHD and GAD, we learned pretty early on that I’d need help around the house. Enter my sweet, committed house cleaner, Clara (not her real name). Every two weeks, we get ready for Clara’s team to deep clean our place. On top of the usual daily cleaning of dishes, washing soiled … [Read more...]