A Truth We Are Believing

Lamentations 3:24

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

God as your portion = hope in every circumstance

A Way We Are Living

One of the things we constantly think about with raising a child with complex medical and special needs is how to care specifically for our other three children. 

Over the years we've come up with some different ways to do this:

• Go on individual dates with kids.

• Get help at home with our special needs child so we can go out with our other kids as a group.

• Bring 1 on 1 help along so that our attention isn’t divided. 

• Ask trusted friends to pick up our kids and take them on exciting adventures and unique opportunities.

• Have regular habits and patterns of spending unhurried time with our kids throughout the day at home. 

We have learned it is small consistent moments that mean the most to our kids and make the biggest impact.

A Book We Are Reading

We love reading the Puritans. 

The Puritans were a group of English Protestant pastors in the 16th and 17th century. They were fiercely devoted to God’s Word and desired reform the Church of England.

We are blessed to have many of their surviving works. There are so many great Puritan books. Most of these books are extended works on one verse. 

One of my favorites is The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes. Someone once called it balm to the soul. They were right!

“Our comfort is that Christ drank the dregs of the cup for us, and will succor us, so that our spirits may not utterly fail under that little taste of his displeasure which we may feel. He became not only a man but a curse, a man of sorrows, for us. He was broken that we should not be broken; he was troubled, that we should not be desperately troubled; he became a curse, that we should not be accursed. Whatever may be wished for in an all-sufficient comforter is all to be found in Christ.”

An Idea We Are Pondering

Do not grow weary in caregiving.

Being a lifetime caregiver is rewarding, exhausting, joyful, costly, and so much more. 

We have cared for our son for the past 13 years through many highs and lows. The reality is that caregiving rarely gets easier. It actually gets harder and more complex as needs shift. 

Yet God is with you and helping you. He promises to sustain you and equip you for what he has called you to. Trust him and keep going.

An Item We are Recommending

Let’s be honest, sometimes personal care is challenging for your child with special needs. We have done all sorts of things over the years…cut his hair while he sleeps, having him in the OR to clean his ears and teeth, etc.

So we love when we find safe tools that make it impossible for Levi to get hurt while we clean and groom him. This eyebrow trimmer is the bomb!