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
Caregiving, Challenges, Grief, Hope, Special Needs Parenting
John Fela (Felageller)
A New Home

It was a short, ten-minute drive from the hotel to the residential facility. I maintained composure while I navigated the busy public roads, and then residential streets. I had a whole range of emotions racing through my body, mind and spirit as we pulled into the campus. This was not just a pleasure drive or a routine errand, this was a significant milestone in the life of my son and our family.

A New Home
Autism, Caregiving, Challenges, Special Needs Parenting
Mark Arnold
Halloween & Special Needs: How to Make it ...

While Halloween is a fun time of year for many children, it can be a really difficult time for some, including many children with additional/special needs. For them it can be a confusing, anxiety-inducing, or even utterly terrifying time. But it doesn’t have to be like that. If we stop for a moment to think about the things they might find hard and how to put things in place to help them, children with special needs can safely join in the fun, too. So what are some of the things about Halloween that children with additional needs can find hard?

Halloween & Special Needs: How to Make it Fun for Every Child

Hope

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Looking Back at 2020 from God’s Perspective

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Looking Back at 2020 from God’s Perspective

It’s easy to come up with a list of challenges that took place in 2020. But Melanie Gomez learned some important insights about remembering 2020 in the way God instructed the Israelites, as they entered the Promised Land.

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Reasons for Praise in a Difficult Season: Reflections on the Promises Fulfilled by God

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Reasons for Praise in a Difficult Season: Reflections on the Promises Fulfilled by God

During the recent Christmas season, as I pondered the state of the world and all of the trauma that I went through in 2020, a message from a messianic rabbi about the Magnificat led me to ask a truly hard question similar to what Mary could have also asked: do I believe the God who carried me through so many difficulties and challenges in the past will carry me through new ones as well?

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Endurance for the Long, Hard Slog of Special Needs Parenting

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Endurance for the Long, Hard Slog of Special Needs Parenting

At times, special needs parenting can feel like a long, hard slog through thigh-high snow. What keeps us going? I mean, what really keeps us going?

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How God Used A Familiar Scripture to Refocus My Struggling Heart

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How God Used A Familiar Scripture to Refocus My Struggling Heart

2020 was a traumatic year for a lot of us—a year when plans fell apart, certainties became uncertain, and many of us transitioned into new roles we didn’t expect or want. So how do we, as special needs parents, regain our footing so we can move forward with a renewed sense of clarity and peace?

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One Month Ago Today, We Celebrated Christmas

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One Month Ago Today, We Celebrated Christmas

One month ago today, we celebrated Christmas 2020. One month ago, the truths about Christ and Christmas buoyed our souls and carried us into the new year. These are the truths you, as a caregiver, comprehend in ways those unaccustomed to life as anything less than perfect can't comprehend.