April is National Autism Awareness Month, something near to the hearts of so many families we know. If you are not directly impacted by autism in your family, you probably know another family raising a child or loving an adult on the spectrum. Raising a child with autism can be an isolating, frustrating, and...
Living with Autism
We recently invited Julie Hornok, a friend of our church's special needs ministry, to sit with us and talk about her new book and the ministry she leads for parents of kids with autism. Julie shares her personal journey of watching her daughter Lizzie slip away from world at about 9 months, and the...
Three Reasons You Need Community
I can remember it like it was yesterday. A college friend and I were meeting up with a few other girls from our sorority for our yearly night out. As we drove we were catching up on everything going on in our lives. I was feeling a little lost because I hadn’t been able...
There Was No Room for Them in the Inn
As we enter the Advent Season, we’re often reminded to “Prepare Him Room”. We set up special activities like the Advent Wreath or the Jesse Tree that walk us through Scripture each day leading up to our celebration of the birth of Christ on Christmas morning. These activities help keep our hearts focused on...
You Have a Diagnosis . . . Now What?
Last year, our family and two other families took a week-long trip to Disney World between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We spent a whole year working with a Disney-certified planner to plan the vacation down to the minute. We knew where we were going to stay, what parks we were going to go to each day,...
Investing in Your Marriage with Marriage Core
Marriage. I remember when I was in high school and college I was always looking at the guys around me as potential dates. I wanted to date but only wanted to date Godly men who had potential for being my spouse. When I met Michael and we started dating, I remember my focus turned...
Special Needs Children Can Understand God and Salvation
If you walk past one of the GIFT Ministry Classrooms on a Sunday morning, you’re probably going to see what appears to be chaos. You might see someone spinning in an egg chair. You might see one of our Tweeners working on an iPad. You might even see someone lying on the floor with...