Different Kind of Special Blog

When my kids were younger, I was that momma - the one that the neighbors talked about. On warm, rainy days, you could find me and my kids outside playing in the rain. Many of our neighbors are senior citizens, and they found our rain dances entertaining. For my kids, it was pure joy. For me, it was a reminder that you don’t always need sunny skies to find happiness.

I love this quote from Vivian Greene:

“Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning...

Last week, my husband and I noticed that we were both sleeping restlessly. After a night or two of tossing and turning, we realized that our sleeplessness was being caused by the hooting of a nearby owl. Even though the owl wasn’t very loud, it turned out that this owl’s call sounded exactly like the soft, whimpering moan that my daughter makes when she’s uncomfortable and needs help. So, every time the owl hooted, my husband and I would startle awake, ready to rush to...

“Will I ever be happy again?” That thought echoed in my head over and over in the days, weeks and months after my daughter was born. When she was only two days old, she received a devastating diagnosis that included daily, uncontrolled seizures, a significant vision impairment and a life expectancy of just 6-8 years.

I was sad and angry and scared. There were times that I truly thought that I might not ever feel joy again.

Spoiler alert: I would be happy again. But, it would take...

When I was younger, I would sometimes find myself thinking about how I would handle adversity if and when it came my way. I don’t mean disappointments or small setbacks. I wondered how I would react to a really difficult life circumstance. I thought about whether or not I had it in me to behave with strength and grace when things got really hard.

Then, at a routine 20-week ultrasound during my second pregnancy, I started to uncover the answers to those questions. I learned that when...