RECENT POSTS
Surrendering Time: When Our Strength Becomes Our Struggle
My life is messy right now. I can’t keep up with laundry or groceries or deskwork or email. I’m late on sending my sister a
Reimagining the Good Life – What’s Next? {Season 10}
REIMAGINING THE GOOD LIFE PODCAST What makes a life good? In this new season of Reimagining the Good Life, Amy Julia Becker invites listeners into thoughtful
IFS | Confessions of a Middle-Aged Mother
No one ever told me that middle age, and motherhood, would be marked by regret. I didn’t know the “choose your own adventure” of my
Imagination, ClemsonLIFE, and the Future of Disability Education
When Penny and I visited the ClemsonLIFE program back in March, one of the program leaders talked to all the parents in the room about funding. It’s
How Disability Changed This Dad’s Idea of “Normal” with Mike Erre
TAKE THE NEXT STEP PODCAST E25—What do you do when the child you imagined isn’t the child you have? Pastor Mike Erre experienced the slow
Building a Good Life for Children with Disabilities: Everyday Steps Toward Independence
When Penny was in middle school, she told us, “When I’m older, I want to live in an apartment with friends.” She was 12. There
Small Steps, Big Dreams: Permission to Assume Possibility for Our Child With Disability
Penny calls in her own prescription refills now. It’s a small detail of our lives together, but it also feels like a symbol of something
April 2026 • Worth Your Time
Books, essays, podcast episodes, and more that I think are worth your time, plus recent cultural news that I’m paying attention to in the month
From Fear to Future: How Families Plan for a Good Life with Sheli Reynolds, PhD
TAKE THE NEXT STEP PODCAST E24—”I don’t know what life can look like for my child.” If you’ve ever felt that, this episode is for
Finding Your People After a Diagnosis: Community, Disability, and Hope
We experienced a wellspring of response when our daughter Penny was born and diagnosed with Down syndrome. People showed up in prayer, meals, messages, and
Belovedness Before Achievement: Rethinking What Makes Us Matter
Penny and I checked out a Special Olympics track team last week. I’m going to write more about that experience—it’s a whole other story—sometime later
How to Find Your People When You Feel Invisible with Katherine Wolf
TAKE THE NEXT STEP PODCAST E23—The meals stop coming. The texts slow down. And suddenly you feel like you’re navigating disability alone. Friends can be
The “Glass Child” Myth: What Siblings of Kids with Disabilities Really Need
When our daughter who has Down syndrome was younger, our weeks were often filled with driving to doctor’s appointments, therapy visits, and specialist consultations. Some
Do Siblings of Children with Disabilities Struggle More? Rethinking the “Glass Child” Narrative
We went out to dinner as a family on Sunday. There was nothing exceptional about it. William told us about his European History class. We
Disability + Siblings: What the Research Says with Meghan Burke, PhD
TAKE THE NEXT STEP PODCAST E22—Is having a sibling with a disability hard on kids? Researcher Meghan Burke has spent years studying (and living) this
Why Naming Grief in Community Makes Hope Possible
Why does naming grief in community make hope possible? We often imagine hope as something we generate internally, but so much of hope is actually
Regret, Gratitude, and Middle Age: Learning to Receive the Life You’ve Been Given
No one ever told me that middle age would be marked by regret. I didn’t know the “choose your own adventure” of my upper-middle class
After Diagnosis: Grief Isn’t the End of the Story with Dr. Curt Thompson
TAKE THE NEXT STEP PODCAST E21—As the mom of a daughter with Down syndrome, I have felt my fair share of complicated emotions over these
