Mom's Place 4 Grace: Five Keys to Thriving as a Parent with Your Special Needs Child

By Barbara Ann-Marie Vorel

Are you struggling to balance your life and taking care of your special needs child? Do you feel guilt whenever you try to find some space to take care of yourself?

Being a mother of a special needs kid can be an isolating and lonely existence. Through personal stories about her own journey as a parent to a young boy with

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barbara Vorel
• Release date: Oct 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798887591889

Book preview

Mom’s

Place

4 GRACE

Five Keys to Thriving as a Parent with Your Special Needs Child

By Barbara Ann-Marie Vorel

Mom’s Place 4 GRACE: Five Keys to Thriving as a Parent with Your Special Needs Child

© Copyright 2022 Barbara Ann-Marie Vorel

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The resources in this book are provided for informational purposes only and should not be used to replace the specialized training and professional judgment of a health care or mental health care professional.

Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for the use of the information provided within this book. Please always consult a trained professional before making any decision regarding treatment of yourself or others.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references in this book are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

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Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV Bible® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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For more information, email

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ISBN: 979-8-88759-187-2

Stormville, NY

I am no different from any one of you who has taken the time to read my words. I am just a mom trying to survive in a difficult situation. I wrote this book because if my struggles and my journey can be of help to someone else, then I feel called to share them. If reading my story brings you some hope or shows you how to better balance your life as the mom of a special needs child, then I have done what I set out to do.

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I would love for you to be a part of the Mom’s Place 4 Grace community, so you can access further support and encouragement if you choose. It would be great to see this community of moms grow.

Dedication

To my son, Robert-Christopher, my reason for being—you have given me more in this life than you will ever know. Whatever ups or downs we face, I have been blessed by God’s gift of you. May you never forget that Mama loves you.

To my village, old and new, especially Mema, Ava, Melissa, Patrick, Anne, Mark, JoAnn, Meredith, Christine, Anthony, and Tammy: there is no way I could parent this child without your unwavering support.

To our current and former respite workers: Nina, Kim, Robert, Meredith, Rebecka—thank you for giving me the gift of quiet.

To Angie, for always being the light and inspiring me to be what God wants me to be.

Lastly, to S. W. for keeping me sailing in the right direction. Your wisdom and guidance has helped me grow in ways I never thought possible. I am blessed to call you my friend.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introducing GRACE

Chapter 2: Why on Earth Am I Here?

Chapter 3: Baby Steps Are Huge

Chapter 4: Savoring Life’s Little Moments

Chapter 5: A Successful Failure

Chapter 6: The Witching Hour

Chapter 7: News Flash: Renewal Isn’t a Luxury

Chapter 8: Sometimes Mama Needs a Pep Talk

Chapter 9: PNO: Parents’ Night Out

Chapter 10: Is Vacation Even Worth It?

Chapter 11: Acceptance Yields a Bit of Peace

Chapter 12: I Did a Thing . . .

Chapter 13: Is Acceptance for a Month Really Acceptance?

Chapter 14: It Takes a Village

Chapter 15: New Lenses

Chapter 16: Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 17: Mom Doesn’t Always Have a Plan B

Chapter 18: Sometimes People Just Get It

Chapter 19: When Empathy Is Lacking

Chapter 20: Where Do I Go from Here?

Acknowledgments

Author Bio

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to Mom’s Place 4 Grace. If you have picked up this book, it is likely for a simple reason: you have a child with special needs. It is my hope that my journey of being a mom to a young boy with some interesting challenges will inspire you and encourage you to be the best mom you can be but also know and understand when you need to give yourself a little bit of grace. If you can’t do it for yourself, perhaps you’ll find it here.

I learned quickly on this journey that parenting a child with special needs is not only exhausting but oftentimes lonely. Many of my friends and family members have no real understanding of the struggles I go through daily or why simple choices can often be difficult.

That said, I also realized there are many people out there who feel exactly the same way I do. As I struggled to balance being a single working mom with addressing my son’s needs and taking care of myself, self-care was often a casualty. Thanks to a good friend, I came to understand that self-care is not selfish but really a form of self-preservation and even more, a form of self-love.

As moms, if we do not take care of ourselves—body, heart, mind, and spirit—we will eventually be unable to take care of the children who so desperately need our attention. Mom sometimes needs to rest! We also need to seek and find the positives along our journey to give us the encouragement and the fuel to keep going forward.

In the following pages, I have shared my story to help you understand that you are not in this alone. There are many of us who share the same feelings, the same struggles, and the same victories. We need each other, and we must make sure we give ourselves all we can to be strong for our children.

I hope and pray my journey will give you some comfort and insight and help you reflect on your own journey, so you can find little pieces of grace that keep you going.

My prayer for you:

God, may each person feel your light shining on them through the pages of this book. May they grow in wisdom and in understanding, may they feel renewed and ready to take on tomorrow’s challenges, may they accept that their circumstances can and will get better by nurturing and feeding their souls, may they have clarity of thought and discernment, and may they find empathy and give empathy when needed. Lord God, may each and every person who opens these pages be blessed with new and encouraging thoughts to help them face tomorrow. Amen.