Tom and Julie Meekins One thing that is always on our prayer list for special needs families is that they will build a community to support one another. A recent example of this happening in our world is that we were able to participate in a fun project with another special needs family. Lauren and Brandon are a special couple. They have three little boys, ages 8, 6 and 3. Their oldest has Autism. If you have followed our ministry for any length of time, you have seen us highlight the ministry Lauren founded and directs called Zach Speaks. (www.zachspeaksinc.org)....
Speaking Truth into the Heart, Mind, and Soul of your Child Combating Low Self Esteem, Negative Self Talk, and Low Motivation All of us at some time or another struggle with our self worth and where we fit in the family, in our jobs, with extended family, with our friends, at our church, etc. Some of our children struggle big time with self worth most of the time. The root cause of this can be a lot of things, but the important thing at this time is that you can speak truth into their hearts and minds and souls. Here...
Purposing our Days for Ministry Now what? Quarantine is not new now. What is next? During this time of quarantine and social distancing, what are you doing about ministry? How are you spending your ministry minutes and energy? Here are some things we have been inspired to practice and we thought you might benefit from them as well. Stay in the Word. This is a fantastic time to get even more firmly rooted in the Bible. Find online Bible studies that you can join or do personal journaling and Bible study on your own. If your church is doing online...
We are thinking about and praying for you all the time. We know that your lives are most likely upside down and that you are having to create a new normal for you and for your family during this pandemic. That is not easy for most people. It is especially not easy for those of us whose children are confused, stressed, and upset by their own personal current situation and have a hard time coping because of their unique set of challenges. We thought these ideas may be helpful to you: Tips during pandemic life from other special needs families....
What is your fallout? Do you find yourself unexpectedly homeschooling children, working from home, on the frontlines as medical, food, or transportation personnel? Do you have a loved one in the military who has been called to help in some way? Everyone has been affected in some way from this pandemic. Everyday we are reminded of just how important it is to “stay home”, “go out only for essentials”, “stay connected”, etc. How could we have ever imagined we would be quarantined and having to figure out how to love those we serve in creative virtual ways while keeping our...
You are tired. You have done much. You have cared much. You have loved much. You are not done yet. You still will do much. You still care. You still love. But — you are tired. Your body is exhausted and may even be ill. Your mind is a bit foggy. Your spirit is a tad bit low. Somehow along the way you have gotten the wrong information that it is selfish to focus on your health and well being. After all, you say, these little and adult children and/or spouses and/or parents, etc. need me. How can I? Here...
Is your child “good” at school and for everyone else but fills your life and home with meltdowns, misbehavior, ugly moods, disrespect, etc.? We hear this often from parents who have children with lots of different kinds of challenges. Our guess is that these children give everything they’ve got outside the home to be “good”. Then, they are exhausted and are at the end of themselves when home. Here are some ideas that you can implement that could make a difference: These tried and true ideas work for many. Could they need a snack? Sometimes the blood sugar gets low...
One Example of Activity Time Once a month we host a support group for parents of children who have significant special needs or challenges of any kind. We call it OASIS. Each month Tom shares a devotional with us from the Word of God and then I get the privilege of taking the group through some kind of interactive exercise. We thought it might be helpful for you if you are thinking about hosting a support group to see how we often set up these activity times. And if you are a parent, you might enjoy the content of this...
We are guessing that if you work in ministry, you have a heart for people. We all come to the table with our own experiences, hurts, challenges, victories, and passions. We are limited in being aware of every kind of struggle people may face and limited in knowing how to support folks in every kind of situation. That is why we need each other to raise awareness. Parents raising kids with challenges may experience some or all of these hurdles in getting plugged into the community: No one to care for the children. Children who have special needs of any...
We think it is safe to say that sometimes our children do not always understand what we are trying to teach them. We want to impart a particular social skill and they just don’t seem to catch it. Today we are sharing three very effective and powerful tools that you can use to teach a particular skill – physical, social, etc. The example we are using today is teaching a child how to wait, particularly one who is prone to interruptions but you can use the tools for other skills as well. Solutions: Tool #1 – Social story –Written –...
