Caregiving, Challenges, Living Life Daily, Love, Special Needs Parenting
Cindi Ferrini
Counting the Cost

How many of us counted the cost (both emotionally and financially) of what it would take to raise a child and/or care for an aging parent? Many are doing both…Because we love our child, we don’t often consider the cost because we simply do what is needed and want the best for them.

Counting the Cost
Caregiving, Challenges, Down Syndrome, Special Needs Parenting
Evana Sandusky
For When You Don’t Feel Thankful

My daughter arrived in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the middle of the night on the eve of Thanksgiving. A tough respiratory virus attacked her lungs, and she needed a substantial amount of oxygen support. And now, this unexpected illness meant Thanksgiving was going to be completely different than we had all planned.

For When You Don’t Feel Thankful
Challenges, Hope, Scripture, Special Needs Parenting
Kara Dedert
When Thankfulness Seems Impossible

Are you scrounging for thankfulness this holiday season? Holidays can be a challenge for those walking through hard days. Perhaps you feel like you've been handed the short-end of the stick; your child is struggling, you’re exhausted and it seems like everybody else has life with a bit more gravy. It’s easy to focus on our circumstances, take stock of what we have and where we are and end up feeling completely void of thankfulness. Is there a cure for this? 

When Thankfulness Seems Impossible
Autism, Caregiving, Challenges, Hope, Special Needs Parenting, Spiritual Growth
Sunita Theiss
Discovering What God Already Knew About Me, ...

I first suspected I had ADHD as a teenager, but finding the right professional to take me seriously was much harder than I expected. Previous attempts only ended in frustration and tears.

Discovering What God Already Knew About Me, Through My Children’s Diagnosis
Caregiving, Challenges, Living Life Daily
Jolene Philo
Enjoying the Holidays with a Food Allergy

Enjoying the holidays with a food allergy sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it? After all, eating together is an integral component of the holiday season. I looked forward to making our traditional holiday foods until I was diagnosed with a dairy allergy in 2012. What was to enjoy about the holidays when the foods associated with it were off limits to me?

Enjoying the Holidays with a Food Allergy

gospel

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The Mission Field Next Door: Meeting The Desperate Needs of Special Needs Families

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The Mission Field Next Door: Meeting The Desperate Needs of Special Needs Families

I once served as a volunteer missionary for nearly 2 years and as a missionary, I was willing to do whatever was asked of me. I often sit in church and listen to the different mission programs, especially short work trips and wonder why? Why do we raise thousands of dollars to send courageous, self-sacrificing individuals to visit far off lands in the name of Jesus when there are so many we neglect in our own communities? We need the Church to be the hands and feet of that powerful calling we claim as Christianity. Outside of the church walls. It might be time to get our hands dirty.

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Crying When God Gives What I Need and Not What I Want

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Crying When God Gives What I Need and Not What I Want

I thought I'd hidden my tears. Until the woman to my left scooted a few inches away, and my husband gave my shoulder a squeeze. He knew what the woman did not. He knew the pastor had said something that touched the tender spot in my heart, the place where I long for the healthy father I never had.