I vividly recall the moment the doctor said my newborn had a genetic disorder. My husband literally rushed to my hospital bed, wrapped his strong arms around me, and told me everything would be fine. We didn’t know what we were getting into at that moment, but he was there holding me. He held my…
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 The last month or so I have looked at so many graduates with their cap and gowns, dangling all their medals and cords they were awarded. I see various pictures with all their relatives. I watch as…
You are not just a mom! Don’t let others intimidate you into questioning what you know is working or not working for your child. Trust yourself and keep moving forward. I have to admit that sometimes I outwardly went along with the therapist’s plans for my child (shhh, don’t tell her; she really was a…
Making summer magical for our kids with special needs sounds like a worthy goal, doesn’t it? But many parents dread the arrival of summer for legitimate reasons. It’s hard to navigate the tricky bits of summer: find day care, keep kids busy all day long, and stretch dollars to pay for summer fun. It’s also…
Have you ever been heartbroken at the extra pain and the struggles your child is facing? I get it. Doing everything you can for your child, wanting to be able to do more. The helplessness, the weariness from always pushing, always looking, always being on. Viktor Frankl survived four concentration camps in the Holocaust and…
The Bible is full of stories about children and young people. Some of these stories are the most well-known of all: Mary, Joseph, David, Samuel, Esther, etc. Some are lesser known, more obscure, but none the less important: the widow’s son and Elijah, Naaman’s slave girl, Jairus’ daughter, etc. In thinking about some of these…
If someone else said those words first or I did, I can’t recall, but I like the idea. It is such a great word picture of the day-to-day those of us work through in the world of special needs. There is a certain level of comfort and safety in a trench. It’s not really the…
Stories. It’s the reason why we have libraries and blogs and magazines and newspapers. It’s the sole target of every journalist and news anchor—to get the story, and be the first to report it. Stories are why we are invested in social media: why we scroll endlessly through a myriad of text and media on…
My one-year old son had been sick since he was three weeks old: screaming, writhing, projectile vomiting every time he ate, anal fissures, bashing his head into hard surfaces, rashes, not sleeping for more than twenty minutes at a time, and more. My husband, myself, and our now three year old son had moved across…
I have always loved the month of April, and for lots of good reasons actually. First off, it is my birthday month, the beginning of spring—or fake spring as we Chicagoans like to say, and the month when two very special holidays usually take place. One is Easter of course, and the other is Passover….