Did you know there's an antidote to discouragement? And it works almost immediately, if we can only remember to pull it out of our spiritual tool kits and use it! What is it? Praise! Some of you may be thinking, Really? You don't know what our family is facing on a daily basis! I get it. Sometimes I feel like my prayers for healing within my family (autism, bipolar disorder, traumatic … [Read more...]
The White Noise of Disability
It’s my birthday. What do I want, you ask? A little peace and quiet. That’s all. I want the fighting to stop, and the doors to stop slamming, and the dogs to stop barking, and the hollering for “can you bring me up a whatever” to just cease for a blasted minute, because kids are loud, and ours are louder. They are a next-level kind of loud. The loud of special needs and mental illness that … [Read more...]
Help in a Flash
To every stranger that steps in, especially in such unexpected ways…Thank you! Max and I aren’t planning to go anywhere, exactly. It’s more that we’re planning to go everywhere. But now a days the criteria for doing so has changed. When I was a kid you could pack up your woodcarving tools, wheel them onto a 747, and whittle a spear mid-flight. But things are different now. The world is different … [Read more...]
Autism and Dementia: How Do We Cope?
Last week, on a gloomy Thursday afternoon, I sat in the prayer room on our retreat center’s property with a student from Miami University. It was the first meeting of a spiritual mentoring relationship. I lit a candle and made her a cup of tea. Frankly, I wondered if I had anything to give that day. The day before I’d visited my mom, who is careening headlong into full-blown dementia. I’d … [Read more...]
Speaking Truth to Power
Last night my husband and I attended a concert called One City One Symphony at Cincinnati Music Hall. For the past several years the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has chosen one concert a year to facilitate community conversation around a theme. This year’s theme? Speaking truth to power. I sat in the balcony of the beautifully refurbished Grand Dame of music halls, immersed in powerful music … [Read more...]
Love in the Age of Worry
Love in the Age of Worry “He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” – Psalm 91:4 NLT I’d planned to write about Jesse this week. I'd planned a piece about theoretical fear. Jesse is my youngest child, and has autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and ADHD. As He is wont to do, God changed the plan. On a Tuesday … [Read more...]