Life Update

To say that I’ve neglected this platform is an understatement. To say that every part of our lives has changed significantly in the past five years is also an understatement.

In March 2020, I became sick with what we would later realize was Covid. I was one of those early cases that turned into Long Covid, a terrifying walk through wave after wave of new and changing symptoms without any research or treatment to fall back on. I ended up needing a hysterectomy in 2021, which helped some of my symptoms but did not lead to any answers or explanations. Since then, I’ve walked a long, slow, and often painful road of trial and error as I try to do as much as I can with as little pain as possible.

In the beginning doctors talked about fixing my health. Now we talk about maximizing how much I can do within my pain baseline, recognizing that the pain probably isn’t going anywhere. It is what it is. I’m in good company - many, many people live with chronic pain, especially among the neurodivergent women who make up much of my social circle.

I’ve spent many years advocating for services and accommodations for my children. Now, in the last year or so, I’ve started realizing that I need to use my advocacy and accommodation skills for myself! It is worth the investment of my time, energy and attention to help myself better cope with day-to-day life - just like it has always been worth my time, energy and attention to help others.

This years-long journey currently has me at a place of relative stability. I don’t have full control over my physical highs and lows, but I do have a great tool kit that I can use to help myself succeed while minimizing my pain as much as possible. I still expect to crash after big events, so I try to schedule physical and mental recovery time after. I know that I experience brain fog and an inability to process clearly when I’ve pushed myself too far, so I help others to be gentle with me by modeling gentleness for myself.

With this, I’ve finally found myself in a space where I have creative energy again. Josh and I wrote a devotional book for children and families called “Jesus Makes Us Whole,” which we’ve already distributed within 441 Ministries and will soon have available more broadly. I’m editing a middle grade book that I hope to publish in 2026. I’m helping Aaron to publish his first book, Voosk, which should become available by December of this year! And soon I’m hoping to turn back to the manuscript that has been my baby for many years now, “Freedom’s City.”

Josh and I also spend much of our time doing development and rehabilitation work in the Beechwood neighborhood of Rochester, New York. We love our neighbors and friends here. I have enjoyed the opportunity of running our Kids Ministry as a volunteer while we figure out a long-term approach to filling this role, and it’s felt so great to be back out there and working with kiddos again. I’ve loved how many children with special needs feel safe and welcome in our program; we’ve worked extra hard to accommodate, accept and welcome whenever possible, and we’ve been rewarded with incredible, enthusiastic, sweet kids who love so deeply and are such enthusiastic participants in our 6-week Summer Camp and weekly Kids Club. It’s been special to involve our own three kids too!

We continue to endure the ups and downs of living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in our home. We have seen so much growth in our son, and yet there will never be a moment where we feel like we’re “out of the woods.” Things change quickly. Executive functioning is a struggle for individuals with FASD. It’s also a challenge with neurodivergence in general, and we’ve learned in the last few years that we’re all somewhere on the neurodivergent spectrum. This means that accommodations, advocacy, co-regulating, and structure are a necessary part of our day to day lives.

Our two youngest kids are no longer homeschooled. They attend two different schools, each one specifically chosen to meet their individual needs and goals. We’re incredibly blessed and privileged to have such amazing schools and professionals on our team. Our oldest is still homeschooled and now tackling subjects like chemistry and algebra!

Life is a long journey. But it’s a good one. We find ourselves in awe of how God moves and uses even the dark parts of our lives for incredible beauty. He is so good. We love the journey we are on. We’re so thankful for the community of people He has drawn around us.

We were never meant to journey alone. God is faithful to pull people alongside us as we go. Thank you for being part of my community!