My Latest Thoughts on Faith, Family, Disability, and Privilege
My Latest Thoughts on Faith, Family, Disability, and Privilege
Return to Belovedness
“We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children and friends loved or wounded us.” —Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved I’m rereading
The Miscellaneous Life of a Parent
Much of the default parent life should be filed under the category “miscellaneous.” That’s what my friend Patricia says. Things like… Filling out the forms
A Few of My Favorite Things: Week 6 | Curling Up With The Culture Wars
I didn’t mean to read and listen and think about a series of controversial topics this week, but I’m passing along some of my favorite
What’s Wrong With Having Down Syndrome?
What’s wrong with having Down syndrome? It was a question I asked many years ago, when our daughter Penny was first diagnosed with an extra
Finishing To Be Made Well
Today I will set a timer on my phone for 30 minutes. I will turn the phone over so I can’t see notifications of text
The Bible Is Not About Behavior Management
I often misinterpret the words in the Bible as behavior management, when they are really invitations to surrender to love. Jesus says: “Do not judge,
On 9/11, We Remember That Love Is Stronger Than Fear
Evil is always (and only) a distortion of the good. This world was created good, and at the core of every human, the core of
A Few of My Favorite Things: Week 5 | School and an Article About Robert E. Lee Statue
Honestly, my favorite thing about this week is that our kids all went back to school. I love their schools. They like their schools. I
Pre-Order To Be Made Well
I am really excited to say that To Be Made Well is available for pre-order (here). I’ve been working on this book for years. It
Texas’s Abortion Law and Down Syndrome
“Why would it be a bad thing for five times more people with Down syndrome to be in the world?” asked my 13-year-old son William,
S5 E1 | How Disability Taught Me the Goodness of Vulnerability with Heather Lanier
What is a meaningful life? Does thinking about disability change your answer? Heather Lanier, author of Raising a Rare Girl, talks with Amy Julia about
Lying About My Feelings
I have lied about my feelings for so long that I don’t even know I’m lying. Somewhere early on in life, I decided that I
Family Game Time: The Name Game
We’ve had a little more family time to play games this summer, and we’ve enjoyed hearts and charades and backgammon and kickball and a special
A Few of My Favorite Things: Week 4 | Braiding Sweetgrass
So yesterday, I spent the day cleaning out my parents’ basement after five feet of water rushed in and flooded all the Christmas decorations that
A Reminder to Love
We are living in a time of dissension and conflict about almost everything—from Critical Race Theory to LGBTQ+ rights to wearing masks to who should
Happy Book Birthday, A Good and Perfect Gift
One of the things you’re supposed to do when you write a book is master your elevator pitch. How can you convey the essence of
Introducing Season 5 of Love Is Stronger Than Fear
It’s been a rough year. Protests, political division, a global pandemic. And our bodies ache. Our friendships feel strained. We’ve had too much to drink.
I Know to Expect Penny To Be Human
I look back on these words I wrote about Penny so many years ago in A Good and Perfect Gift, and I think, Yes. That’s
Welcome! (And Some Random Facts About Me!)
It is so fun and encouraging to watch this community grow. I love learning from you all and hearing where you’re coming from. Recently, we’ve
A Few of My Favorite Things: Week 3 | Podcast Episodes About Healing
I guess it makes sense that I have healing on my mind right now. I’m not actively working on To Be Made Well for the
Do You Want More?
What if there is so much more life available to all of us than we even dare to hope or believe? What if we are
Is Disability (or Down Syndrome) Abnormal?
Is disability abnormal? After Penny was born, we were told she had a genetic abnormality because she had an extra copy of her 21st chromosome.
Free PDF: A Guide to Body Prayers
Free PDF: A Guide to Body Prayers Do our bodies use pain and illness to send signals to our hearts and minds? I’ve started to
In the “Woods” of Disability
“It wasn’t as if a doctor would ever say about her extra chromosome, ‘It was touch-and-go for a while there, but now we’re out of
Summer Screen Time Update
I talked a big game about making sure our kids didn’t spend their whole summers in front of their respective screens this summer. A few
Giveaway! Books About Down Syndrome
G I V E A W A Y !!!!!!!!! I’ve teamed up with some awesome authors, and you can win 7 books all about Down
What Our Bodies Are Like in Heaven
What will our bodies look like in heaven? To push the point a little bit, what will the bodies of people with disabilities look like
Getting It Wrong
“We grow much more spiritually by getting it wrong than by getting it right.” —Richard Rohr, Falling Upward I really don’t want this to be
Going in a Circle and Sometimes Making Progress
Does it ever feel like your life is going in a circle? The older I get, the more I sometimes feel as though I’m not
An Accelerated Course in Love
An accelerated course in love—“…every time I recognized the purity of my love for Penny, I was dying to an old part of myself, an
