BLOG
When 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 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 moreHow Superheroes Decompress: Respites & Shawarma (A Tribute to Volunteers)
Confessions of a Respite Groupie Hello. My name is Diane. And I am a self-professed Respite Groupie. If there’s a church respite event within a 45-minute radius of our home: We. Are. There. “Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night…” Whatever, man. We are there. It’s the only event I’m ever on time for. It blows my mind that a group...
read moreOn Motherhood, Meals & Mayhem | Mother’s Day 2014
Breakfast of Chumpions One winter morning in 1988, I ran out the door on my way to school. I was late, per usual, so I skipped breakfast. High school seniors are too cool for breakfast anyway. My mother wasn’t having it. She chased me out to my car in her pajamas, and pressed a half-eaten SKOR bar and Coke into my hand. “Must eat something!” she insisted. A Coke and a candy...
read moreUnbroken Faith
Subscribe
Subscribe to receive new blog posts, updates, and exclusive content.
Connect with Diane
All rights reserved | Copyright 2018 | Privacy Policy
