During the years when I was both caring for a son with special needs and teaching full time, the question “What’s for supper tonight?” was guaranteed to make my heart race and my stomach churn. If we weren’t returning home from an unexpected trip to the hospital or doctor’s office, then I was exhausted from work. Since we lived in a remote part of South Dakota at the...

A few months ago I met Brenda Nixon, author of The Birth to Five Book, a tremedous resource for parents of young children, whether or not they have special needs. The Parent’s Plate Brenda is a speaker and hosts a parenting show called The Parents’ Plate. She knows how easy it is to overfill a parent’s plate and provides simple strategies to help you empty it. If you’re looking...

Though I’m not a natural at Twitter (as compared to Facebook which is my kind of social networking), the service has been a great way to find other people who assist families of kids with special needs. Using the prescribed 140 characters or less, it recently brought Barb Dittrich and me together. Barb Dittrich Charlie, one of the Dittrich’s three children, has hemophilia. So his parents...

The previous post in this series shared five ways to encourage families with special needs kids. The ideas came from Lisa Copen’s book, Beyond Casseroles: 505 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend. Further Beyond Casseroles Here are five more tips from Lisa’s book, which you can adapt for families with chronically ill children: Ask your church youth group to come over and clean up...

When I hear about parents of kids diagnosed with a chronic illness or special needs, my thoughts and emotions get tangled up, they tie me in knots. Sound Familiar? I want to do something to help – take a casserole or send a card maybe – but invisible, tangled threads hold me back. Doubt sets in, and my good intentions seem feeble or silly. Pretty soon, I talk myself out of doing anything...

The holiday season is here. And one aspect of the season – whatever your faith background – is reaching out to the less fortunate with a helping hand. But with all the the seasonal hubbub, how do you get your home ready for the holidays and find time to minister to others? In this post, I’ll share three ways you can help others without losing control of your schedule. Multi-Task The...

The previous two posts in this series, you learned how the needs of two ordinary families led to the creation of Faith, Hope & Charity, a residential care facility for children with special needs. To learn more about the many services currently offered at their state-of-the-art home, visit their website, FaithHopeandCharity.org. A Powerful Example The two woman who conceived the idea for the residential...

In the first post in this series you met Rose and Mary, two mothers who made a big difference in their small Iowa town. Their efforts began in the mid-1960s when they needed assistance caring for their special needs daughters, Brenda and Becky. Small Beginnings The solution to their puzzle came in three pieces. The first piece was in the shape of a house purchased at auction by Rose’s husband....

A few weeks ago, during a visit to Storm Lake, Iowa I toured Faith, Hope & Charity , a residential care facility for children with disabilities. This impressive facility serves 32 children, ages 3 – 18, in four homelike wings. Fascinating History But what fascinated me most was the home’s history, recounted on a wall display in the main entrance. It was a testimony of how two ordinary...

Recently, I spoke to a Mothers of Pre-Schoolers (MOPS) group about ten things they can do to help families with critically or chronically ill children. Number ten was coordinating the volunteers who want to provide meals. A Better Way After the program, one of the young moms named Wendy told me about a great website created by a man named ViJay. He conceived the idea when a meal sign-up sheet was...