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

Medically Fragile

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When There's No Visible Exit from your Trial

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When There's No Visible Exit from your Trial

The problem I seem to have in trials is that I want them over with quickly. The end of the trial seems to be the focus of my prayers. Then one day, a friend prayed with me in a way I never had.

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When The Doctor Can't Fix Your Child

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When The Doctor Can't Fix Your Child

No one can prepare you for what it’s like to be a witness of the continued struggle in your child, just to survive. There’s no chapter on that in the pregnancy books. There’s no guidebook for how to be a parent of the suffering. Or is there?

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Why I Shouldn't Justify My Fear

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Why I Shouldn't Justify My Fear

My daughter has been hospitalized many times for recurring lung infections. Now, whenever my daughter has a little cough, fear swells up in me. Surely, anyone in my situation would feel this same way. I try to justify it, but it doesn’t make such fear right.

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Clinging to the One Who is Known

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Clinging to the One Who is Known

I look down at my daughter’s complex and failing body, and the list of all the unknowns is endless. But I don’t have to fear being drowned by the crashing waves of this sea, because He promises to take good care of us. I only need to reach out and cling to Him.

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The Transforming Power of Kindness

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The Transforming Power of Kindness

The kindness that changed the trajectory of my life began when a mom took the time to share her story. One day, God will open doors for you to show kindness to hurting moms, too.