My friend Katie Wetherbee interviewed me a while back and is now posting the interview in parts over at her blog. I wanted to share the link so you could head over to her blog. It was encouraging to me to answer questions, rather than write or speak about it as I usually do. Something freeing about the process for me, even five and a half years later.
Katie does a lot of things, but one is to help families of children with special needs make quality connections within the local church.
Did you know many families with disabled children do not attend church because either the building itself is not accessible or because the body of people there are either unwilling or not educated on how to care for their children during a one hour service?
Are churches only for families with 2.5 kids who have no allergies, disabilities, or other special needs?
That's like saying the church is only for blond haired, blue eyed people from a certain region of Europe...and we all know how that worked out!
Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
Ummmmm. That would be EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. ON. EARTH.
Do you have to go to church in order to have a relationship with the Lord?
Ummmmm....NO! Plenty of churches around the world are welcoming, loving places where anyone would feel part of the fold. And then, there are plenty of others out there that Jesus wouldn't even set foot in because they are just too darned perfect...I would encourage you not to go to those, anyway.
Sorry, I'm off on a tangent.
If our son Noah had lived, he would have continued to have special needs, just as he did in the hospital with a staff of 40 loving nurses and countless doctors and specialists.
In real life, outside the hospital, it takes a community of support and encouragement to come around families of children with different disabilities. Heck, it takes a community of support and encouragement to come around EVERYONE.
*If you or someone you know would like to know more about getting your church up-to-date with how to lovingly come alongside families of children with special needs, check out: www.keyministry.org
Showing posts with label Guest blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guest blogging. Show all posts
Monday, May 21, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Guest Blogging
Today you will find me at "Diving for Pearls."
Katie Wetherbee is a new friend, who is actually an old friend. And by "old" I mean, she prayed for us during our journey with Noah through hearing of his blog. Earlier this Spring we were able to email back and forth and finally share ear to ear. I wish we lived where I could meet her face to face.
One night I sat and read through the story of Katie and her family. She has it neatly organized on her blog, so it's easy to do. (Sorry. You won't find that here. I'm still working on my organizational skills.) It was like a book I could not put down, reading her words, her experiences and emotions, and being able to picture the hospital life she lived with her daughter because of our personal experience.
Katie is a beautiful woman and a wonderful new friend! I love her heart and the core of the ministry she carries out on a daily basis. Her blog states, "Helping children with special needs thrive at home, school, and church." She is the Director of Education for Key Ministry. This mission of Key Ministry is "to equip churches to welcome and include children and families affected by hidden disabilities in all aspects of the life of the church." The website has great insight and resources to educate oneself and learn more about how we as a body of believers can build bridges and welcome every person into the walls of an actual church, and into the arms of a loving community.
As a mother, she is facing the out-of-state drive and delivery of her first born to college next fall, with a younger one still working through high school. I have one in diapers still and another just exiting 4th Grade in two weeks. We are in two very different phases of life, but I believe we all have much to learn from one another.
I hope you will head over to "Diving for Pearls" where Katie is launching the first of a series called "Messages from Moms," where yours truly is first out of the gates.
My heart in being part of this is to encourage families far and wide as they journey through parenting, no matter how it looks. Our son Noah passed away, but the time he was on this Earth I would say he had some very special needs. Had he lived, he would have been "labeled" as such and it would have been, and is, my heart, to know him intimately and love him especially the way he was, understanding his needs to help him flourish. Just as I try to do with my other two.
Katie Wetherbee is a new friend, who is actually an old friend. And by "old" I mean, she prayed for us during our journey with Noah through hearing of his blog. Earlier this Spring we were able to email back and forth and finally share ear to ear. I wish we lived where I could meet her face to face.
One night I sat and read through the story of Katie and her family. She has it neatly organized on her blog, so it's easy to do. (Sorry. You won't find that here. I'm still working on my organizational skills.) It was like a book I could not put down, reading her words, her experiences and emotions, and being able to picture the hospital life she lived with her daughter because of our personal experience.
Katie is a beautiful woman and a wonderful new friend! I love her heart and the core of the ministry she carries out on a daily basis. Her blog states, "Helping children with special needs thrive at home, school, and church." She is the Director of Education for Key Ministry. This mission of Key Ministry is "to equip churches to welcome and include children and families affected by hidden disabilities in all aspects of the life of the church." The website has great insight and resources to educate oneself and learn more about how we as a body of believers can build bridges and welcome every person into the walls of an actual church, and into the arms of a loving community.
As a mother, she is facing the out-of-state drive and delivery of her first born to college next fall, with a younger one still working through high school. I have one in diapers still and another just exiting 4th Grade in two weeks. We are in two very different phases of life, but I believe we all have much to learn from one another.
I hope you will head over to "Diving for Pearls" where Katie is launching the first of a series called "Messages from Moms," where yours truly is first out of the gates.
My heart in being part of this is to encourage families far and wide as they journey through parenting, no matter how it looks. Our son Noah passed away, but the time he was on this Earth I would say he had some very special needs. Had he lived, he would have been "labeled" as such and it would have been, and is, my heart, to know him intimately and love him especially the way he was, understanding his needs to help him flourish. Just as I try to do with my other two.
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