Just Enough Hope for Special Needs Parenting

by Mar 27, 2014Encouragement, Spiritual Support0 comments

This past winter was a doozy.

Long.
Snowy.
Cold.
Dark.

But eventually, the daylight hours started increasing. The cardinals and wrens began singing in the morning. The robins came back. The temperatures started rising in late February, and so did my spirits. Until I caught a cold.

Sore throat.
Plugged ears.
Red nose.
Bad cough.

This winter reminded me of my first winter as a new mom. We lived much further north and west of where we do now. So even the mild winters were long and cold, the daylight hours significantly fewer than where we live now. Not only that, but my elementary students passed colds and viruses on to me all winter long. I passed them on to our baby with upper respiratory issues relate to his congenital birth anomaly. By mid-March, ten months into motherhood, I was at my wit’s end.

Stir crazy.
Exhausted.
Hopeless.
Done in.

I can’t remember how I made it to spring that year, though much of the credit goes to my husband’s patience and compassion, the encouragement of friends, and the trust my students lavished upon their cranky, tired teacher. Many years later, when dear friends lost twin boys at the sixth month in utero in late February, God brought the memory of my late winter despair to mind. Every time it niggled at me, I sent a card or encouraging note to the family.

Thinking of you.
Praying for you.
Missing your babies.
Hanging on for you when you can’t.

In late March, the mother was back in church. She thanked me for the cards, and I asked her how she was doing. “It’s hard,” she said as tears filled her eyes. “It’s so hard.”

To read the rest of this post, go to the Not Alone website.

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By Jolene

Jolene Philo is the author of the Different Dream series for parents of kids with special needs. She speaks at parenting and special needs conferences around the country. She’s also the creator and host of the Different Dream website. Sharing Love Abundantly With Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages® for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities, which she co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman, was released in August of 2019 and is available at local bookstores, their bookstore website, and at Amazon. The first book in her cozy mystery series, See Jane Run!, features people with disabilities and will be released in June of 2022.

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Meet Jolene

Jolene Philo is a published author, speaker, wife, and mother of a son with special needs.

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