One of the first words out of our oldest grandchild's mouth was, "DONE!" He used it emphatically at the end of meals... DONE! When having his face washed or his nose wiped... DONE! Or my personal favorite...approximately two seconds after his parents put him in his crib for a nap and then carefully and oh-so-quietly shut the door to his bedroom... DONE! Lately, I've found myself silently … [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...]
Feeling Impatient to Become More Patient?
Read below for a guest post from Lorna Bradley. “Love is patient; Love is kind.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4a The irony did not escape me. Years ago at the first session of a six-week support group I outlined the topics I planned to cover. Then I offered that if there were other topics folks would like to discuss we could add those as well. I decided to grease the skids of the group member’s creative … [Read more...]
Listening Takes Time For Our Children and Us
Tears were flowing. The frustration of our daughter Fayth not listening was overwhelming my wife, Stephanie. Not to mention she is 8 months pregnant might have something to do with the water works. Stephanie was in one of her spells of exhaustion and frustration. This happens every now and again. We were about to learn a lesson one listening takes time. The Lord is not slow in keeping his … [Read more...]
Wait for it….wait for it…
“Have you heard of ‘reservation time’?” our counselor asked. I shot my husband a blank look. I had no idea what he was talking about. “The Navejo have a custom,” he explained, leaning forward in his chair. “Families often live far apart without telephones, so rather than show up unannounced on a neighbor’s doorstep, they drive their cars within hearing distance of their neighbor‘s property. They … [Read more...]
Waiting…
It's the life of a parent raising a child with special needs -- endless waiting. After we wait in great expectation for the arrival of our child, whether by birth or adoption, we begin the journey trying to figure out why something doesn't seem quite right. It can be glaringly apparent or something just subtly "off" that we notice. We wait for a diagnosis... Once we have some idea what we … [Read more...]