Dear Special Needs Parent, This unexpected life is weird, wonderful, wild and ugly, isn't it? I think we, of all people, are the ones who can rightly say, "It's complicated." Hang in there. You are brave, even when you don't feel brave. The best advice ever given me is what I offer you: Don't ever …
Continue reading Don't Lose Hope: A Letter to Special Needs Parents
Dear Special Needs Parent, This unexpected life is weird, wonderful, wild and ugly, isn't it? I think we, of all people, are the ones who can rightly say, "It's complicated." Hang in there. You are brave, even when you don't feel brave. The best advice ever given me is what I offer you: Don't ever …
Continue reading Don’t Lose Hope: A Letter to Special Needs Parents
When Kristen was first diagnosed, I wondered why. Why, God? Then my Why, God turned to Did you cause this, God, or did you simply allow it? Cause or Allow? It was important to me, because it shaped who God was for me. I was swimming in a pool of disillusion. My circumstances were reshaping …
You never know how good you have it until you don’t. I always think that whenever I’ve been sick. Afterwards, I think, It feels so good to feel good! I haven't been sick lately, but we've had a few things occur that have jarred our little world. Enough to make me appreciate normalcy. Now, after …
Continue reading From Awful to Wonderful, Hope is the Bridge
Yahweh. The early Jews considered this name so holy they didn't even say it aloud. This name is to be highly revered. In my Bible, it's easy to simply read past it, mistaking it for "Lord." But it's in all capital letters: LORD. It's like a call to action -- Stand at attention! Or, maybe …
No Christmas will ever live up to the hype. I don't know about you, friend, but all the commercials, Pinterest posts, magazine covers can make me feel my Christmas doesn't live up to expectations. My tree isn't perfectly trimmed, even though it holds ornaments that are cherished and important to my family. My house looks …
Continue reading A Perfectionist’s Christmas: Jesus, Not the Hoopla
No Christmas will ever live up to the hype. I don't know about you, friend, but all the commercials, Pinterest posts, magazine covers can make me feel my Christmas doesn't live up to expectations. My tree isn't perfectly trimmed, even though it holds ornaments that are cherished and important to my family. My house looks …
Continue reading A Perfectionist's Christmas: Jesus, Not the Hoopla
“You jerk!” When Kristen yelled those words at her dad, he and I both gasped. Rick looked at me, wide-eyed, as if to say, Where did that come from? Heat crept up my neck. My face burned. I knew exactly where that came from. Me. Jerk. It was my word. …
I read something the other day and I couldn't get it out of my mind. Not because it was cute or witty. But because it was a contrast to the truth. It went like this: "The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, …
Turning the River 