Hello my friend! Happy Spring!
One spring day, several years ago, I was taking a walk and saw a lone flower growing through a crack in the sidewalk. At first I was sad for this flower. There was a beautiful garden just a few feet away from this flower boasting a kaleidoscopic display of color. Surely that was where this flower belonged.
But then my perspective changed and I was proud of this flower. It was doing exactly what it was created to do: spread its roots, grow, bloom, and share its color and beauty with the world, despite its unusual circumstances. It could have withered up and died, but it was flourishing.
And it got me thinking about my own children. I realized how similar that beautiful, strong flower was to my own children.
It can sometimes be easy for me to focus on their special needs and their struggles and challenges, and miss their hearts, their gifts, their unique personalities, and how they are blooming in their own way.
They are showing off their own unique colors to a world that is desperate for a little color and joy in it. And that makes me one proud mama.
*This is an excerpt from my book Embracing This Special Life that I wanted to share with you in honor of the fact that flowers are blooming (at least in my neck of the woods. How about yours?) and the fact that April is Autism Acceptance month. May we embrace all the children in our lives, in our communities, in our churches. They are all a beautiful gift, blooming in their own unique way, and have so much to share with us.
A few resources you may be interested in:
My friend Kristin Faith Evans and her husband Todd have written an awesome book to help couples parenting children with special needs. How to Build a Thriving Marriage as You Care for Children with Disabilities is available for preorder and comes out May 15th. I’ve had the honor to start reading an advance copy and it is really good! It is full of encouragement and practical, helpful tools for your marriage.
If you’re looking for some faith-based encouragement and some time to hang out with other mamas of children with special needs who understand our challenges, I highly recommend By the Brook’s retreat taking place this June. There are in-person and virtual options and it such a wonderful, refreshing time. Learn more and get your tickets here.
If you’re on Facebook and you haven’t joined us yet, we’d love to have you join us at Christian Special Needs Moms Embracing This Special Life. It’s a supportive place to ask questions, be encouraged, share prayer requests and praises, support each other, not feel so alone, and so much more.
Here’s to embracing this special life together,
Jenn
Thanks for these resources, Jenn!
Thank you for the resources. I've pre ordered the book. I'm only able to get it on kindle as I'm in the UK but looking forward to reading it. x