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“Let Me Know How I Can Help!” (This Will, Because They Won’t)
A House Under Siege Let’s say, hypothetically, flames engulfed my house in the middle of the night. To have my neighbor lean out his window and shout, “Let me know how I can help!” is actually unhelpful. I know my neighbors are good people. But what would be more helpful? If he ran over with a garden hose, a fire extinguisher, or dragged us away from the fire while his wife called 911. Then,...
read moreWhen Nothing’s Right With the World (This IS My Father’s World)
2007. We were two years into our son’s diagnosis, in the thick of grieving all I thought we’d lost. At the time, my husband was the church worship leader. Every Sunday, he’d exhort the congregation to praise and trust God (a testament to his character and faithfulness). Meanwhile, the worship leader’s wife sat sulking in the back pew, arms crossed, and resentful that we still had to...
read moreIntroducing, Unbroken Faith: Spiritual Recovery for the Special Needs Parent
“Why my child? Why us? This is not the way it’s supposed to be!” “Why won’t God fix this? Doesn’t He care?” “I’m the wrong parent for this child. I’m not qualified.” “No one understands what I’m going through.” “I can never die. What will happen to my child?” Regardless how rare a diagnosis, no...
read moreI’m Back: 2018 Edition
Dear Readers, I’m back. It’s been a grueling three years, and I truly thank you for your patience while the site went dark. I know it’s not the first time. Why MIA this time? Once again, I most apologetically offer… In Summary…. Feb. 2015: I posted my last blog post, then fell off the grid. I continued to lead our church plant’s special needs ministry. But having a...
read moreWhen Normal Is the New Weird | Special Needs + Typical Parenting (Belonging Neither Here Nor There)
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity Many of us hold dual citizenship: Card-carrying creds from the world of Special Needs parenting, and membership in the “normal” world of typically developing children (“Sibs.”) We occupy both...
read more20 Things I Know Now, That I Wish I Knew Then (The Special Needs Parent-Ninja Arts)
From time to time I get asked, “Do you have any advice for a Special Needs Parent?” It’s usually from someone freshly reeling from their child’s diagnosis, or a friend who wants to be supportive. BLESS THEM. To which I say (or think), Ohboyohboyboy! (and start mentally salivating.) I devoted this blog on Special Needs parenting to discuss exactly that: The...
read moreI’ll Never Hear, “I Love You, Mommy” (Lies The Devil Tells)
As the mother of a non-verbal child with autism, I know lots of other mom-friends of children who don’t speak. We seldom discuss it. But, oh, how we all long to hear, “I love you, Mommy.” For my son, it took years of intensive speech and behavioral therapy before he could even identify me as Mommy: He paired my laminated picture with the word on a flash card. I’ll take it. One night, I...
read more2014 In Review | Why I’ve Been Away
Gracious Blog Readers, I know. I’ve been away. It’s been over six months since I last wrote a post. Thank you, though, for sticking around to see this one. It’s been a hard year. One that whooped me to the likes I haven’t experienced since Autism D-Day ten years ago. No incidents of death, disease or dismemberment. And certainly...
read moreFatherhood, Hijacked | When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan
In the world of Special Needs parenting, moms usually get all the press. Mom dukes it out at IEP’s. Moms rule the blogosphere. Moms march on Capitol Hill. And all those classical depictions of the Madonna? (The Virgin, not Like a Virgin) Nary a father to be seen. What about Dad? Where is he? What happened to him? Fatherhood, Hijacked This is how the birth of Jesus...
read more“What About My Child?!” Amidst Grads, Gowns & Grief, A Different Story Unfolds
Ah, the merry month of June! A joyous and hectic season. Flurrying about between graduations and gowns, gifts and weddings. “What’s next? Which college? What city? Which company?” Their graduations and gowns; their shiny gifts and weddings. I smile to suppress the slight rankle of bittersweet. For within these hallowed months, the ghost of my Idealized Child...
read moreUnbroken Faith
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