Jolene Philo gives 10 vacation planning tips for families with special needs! Jolene Philo will be speaking at Disability & the Church 2024 in Orlando, FL May 1-3! Go to www.keyministry.org/datc2024 to register now.
Like a new outfit that looks crisp and sharp or an old outfit that is so worn out it’s comfy and we wear it all the time….is often how we wear the banner of the special needs journey. How does it look on us? On you? Is our attire crisp and sharp or rather worn out? Cindi Ferrini writes on how YOU wear special needs and caregiving.
There is a group that many churches simply do not see and are therefore missing a great opportunity for ministry. That group is special needs dads. Guys, like me, who are caring for individuals with disabilities/special needs. This is an incredible group of men! Steve Chatman will be speaking at Disability & the Church 2024 in Orlando, FL May 1-3. Go to www.keyministry.org/datc2024 to register now.
Over the years, I have been through multiple seasons of planting and harvesting skills with my daughter. My daughter is now entering adulthood with disabilities. There are still skills that she needs to develop to make her life easier. The learning does not stop as she ages, however, the pressure I put on myself all of those years is gone. I don’t need to fix issues. I simply need to support her through them. Evana Sandusky writes on her daughter’s growth through the years and likens it to planting seeds and yielding the harvest.
“How do I teach my kids to interact with people who have disabilities?” Jolene Philo gives 7 tips on how to teach your kids how to interact with people who have disabilities. These tips are geared for kids, but they can be adapted for adults who act uncomfortable around anyone with disabilities and special needs––kids, adults, and senior citizens.
As I sat down to share life with fellow special needs parents in this blog, it occurred to me that the best I might offer was a shared prayer for the upcoming holiday season. Perhaps you, too, are thinking out of the box about how to make the most of new and unexpected holiday dynamics. Together let’s pray, Lord, make our homes an instrument of Your peace.
In October 2014, I was in the middle of a short period of personal chaos that had created a fair sense of anxiety and fear in me: job loss; my mother experienced an accident that required surgery; my mother-in-law required hospitalization as well. I felt confused and insecure, but did my best to remember I was serving an important purpose in my family’s life. And at Halloween, the purpose to my time at home was finally realized.
I have been numb with depression lately. Except on those days when I am energized by anger. Some of it has to do with the pandemic and continued quarantine; some of it has to do with family relationships and health challenges. And then a daily meditation popped up, challenging me to choose a contained life.
My father, brother, and nephews possess much knowledge to grow soybeans, wheat, and corn, but some vital aspects of farming are out of their control. Similarly, my husband and I plan and plot care and opportunities for our daughter who has developmental disabilities, but there are some things out of our control. We wait, pray, hope, and support our daughter, until the time when we reap what we have sown into her as a child.
We’ve had to adjust a lot of expectations around here this year—and that’s an understatement. I’ve become aware that the COVID-19 adjustments we’ve made these few months have diminished my expectations in a great many areas of my life. But then I got a reminder about praying with expectancy, urgency and boldness.
