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“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,”
― Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him
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,”
― 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.”
― Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him
― 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.”
― Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him
― 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.”
― Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him
― Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him
“Knowing when to correct and train, when to overlook, and when to enjoy and praise is a constant balancing act for a parent, but I tried to err on the side of compassion and sympathy with Nathan. These seemed to be the tools that opened Nathan's heart to correction. And these gifts could only be given through personal time invested over and over again.”
― Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him
― Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him
Calgary, Alberta
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For anyone from the city of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.
The GoodBook Club
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— last activity Dec 09, 2021 02:59AM
Hello everyone, So we at Penguin Random House Canada have a conundrum. We're maxed out a 5000 friends and can't add anymore faces to our GoodReads f ...more
Vanessa’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Vanessa’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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