Vanessa

“I had to learn that God never intended me to judge my children's value by how well they fit the assembly line of cultural expectations or my own dreams of what I thought motherhood should look like.

Each of them was an individual, one-of-a-kind design. Each had a special purpose in the world. And each had a special set of gifts and challenges that affected the way they operated in the world.

God had ordained that I would be the mama of these unique children, tasked with shepherding them through life and teaching them what unconditional love meant. It was my stewardship to parent my sweet little ones with all the faith and joy I had chosen as my foundation for the other areas of my life,”
― Sally Clarkson, Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him

“We must learn to desire the light God offers more than the safety and comfort of the darkness where we already live.”
― Nathan Clarkson, Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him

“In a culture that seeks only to anesthetize, escape, and ignore hurt, I believe we are called to experience, acknowledge, and feel the pain of life so that redemption can be achieved. Because only when we have walked through the dark can we appreciate and crave the light. Pain can be the muscle that tears to make us stronger and the surgery that cuts to make us whole. So instead of running from the hurt, we must embrace it, own it, live with it, and trust in God's ability to use what feels like death as the catalyst for finding life.”
― Nathan Clarkson, Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him

“It took me a little while, but I learned to see my "time-outs" as necessities, not luxuries, and to be vigilant about making room for them in my life. Without them, I found it almost impossible to provide the kind of welcoming, accepting home experience that Nathan and all my children needed.”
― Sally Clarkson, Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him