When the topic of friendship and people with disabilities came up in a discussion several weeks ago, I immediately thought of my friend Tryn, whom I have known since the winter of the Indonesian tsunami. Tryn and I met at the church of a mutual friend. Although I was visiting ...

In my years of growing up with a disability, it has been difficult to make friends because I looked different than normal people. I was always the one who people treated differently. It was very challenging to make friends. Once I got to know people who took the time to get ...

(This post is Part 2. Read Part 1: Can Kids with Disabilities HAVE friends?)

Many academic journals and therapists suggest that since poor social functioning is the primary impediment to social connections for youth with developmental disabilities, then the youth with developmental ...

I had the pleasure of speaking with Lynne Ford of Mid-morning, a radio show in Indianapolis, yesterday about the themes that come up in A Good and Perfect Gift. She asked wonderful questions about our experience with Penny, about language and Down syndrome, about sin and grief ...

I usually visit Matt during his lunch break in a busy school cafeteria where he sits alone at one end of a long table, clusters of students buzzing with interaction and conversation surrounding him. When I see him at one of our ministry's events or at his house he is ...

One of my earliest fears for Penny, and consequently one of my earliest prayers, had to do with her ability to make friends. My fear has softened over the years. There are the buds of friendship she's growing in kindergarten. There is the ongoing friendship with William. And ...

Penny and William and I were reading Thomas the Train a while back, and Thomas faced a conundrum. He desperately wanted to get back to the station so he could be the train to take a group of children home from a school trip. But as he chugged along he noticed a bus that had ...

Brokenness and limitations are not the same thing.

Brokenness, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, is not good. It comes as a result of sin in our world. As Jesus demonstrated throughout his ministry, God wants to heal broken bodies, broken minds, broken souls, and broken ...

Mother's Day is coming up. And a friend recently suggested I offer a shameless plug for A Good and Perfect Gift as a perfect (pun somewhat intended) Mother's Day gift. I do hope you'll consider buying it for your mother, or for your friends who are mothers, or for your friends ...

Intervarsity Press recently published Letters to a Future Church, written by an array of men and women, addressed to the North American Church. IVP is sponsoring a contest in which you can participate. I was asked to contribute a letter through the Patheos Book Club.

Dear members ...

Last week, I had the privilege of sharing some thoughts on the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-11, during chapel at Western Theological Seminary. Here is an edited version of what I said:

If we were to come up with a parallel list of "Beatitudes" within American culture today, they'd ...

I've had the honor of trading a few emails with Aaron Cobb recently. He shared with me the eulogy he wrote for his son Samuel, who was born with Trisomy 18. It is a testimony to the goodness and beauty of life and love:

Friends and family: Thank you for sharing this day with ...

I lost my voice on Sunday. It happens often. Every few months, usually prompted by some combination of a cold (or, as in this case, allergies) and a speaking engagement. I've only had to cancel once, but I've coughed my way through some other sessions. But I've never had a situation ...

Our church doesn't do infant baptisms (well, kind of, but that's another story). We do infant dedications, and last Sunday was Marilee's turn. We made a valiant effort to have all three kids sit through the service for thirty minutes until the dedication itself. Marilee was ...

Many years ago, a mentor told me, "Be careful what you teach on, because the Lord will probably make you live it as well as teach it." This has proven true for me over the past decade as my husband and I have begun our family here in Venice, California.

For 5 of the 10 years ...