Episodes

Tuesday May 03, 2022
Mikayla McKenzie: Mom AND Caregiver
Tuesday May 03, 2022
Tuesday May 03, 2022
About Mikayla
Mikayla McKenzie has been married to her husband, Brandon, for almost 8 years. They have three children; Bear, Daisy, and a baby girl due in October. Their son, Bear, was diagnosed with congenital CMV at only a few months old. Mikayla has always had a heart and calling for anything surrounding people with special needs, so now that she is a mom to a special-needs child, her passion has become even stronger!
Related Links
Find out more about By the Brook!
Favorite Quotes
"He's prepared you for this, and what you can't handle, you hand it over to Him."
*Theme music and editing by Open Mic Studios.
https://openmicrecordingstudio.com/

Tuesday Apr 26, 2022
Melanie Gomez: Setting the Tone for Your Home
Tuesday Apr 26, 2022
Tuesday Apr 26, 2022
About Melanie
Married for 28 years, Melanie is the mother of two young men, one of whom was born with a rare genetic disorder. Passionately sharing God’s message of joy, hope and purpose with every special needs mom she meets is an integral part of her calling. She lives it out through speaking engagements, blogging, missions work in Haiti, and her recently published devotional titled “Bundle of Joy”. Melanie lives in Sunny South Florida and enjoys traveling the world with her whole family.
Related Links
Rising Above podcast- Episode 58
Rising Above podcast- Episode 87
*Theme music and editing by Open Mic Studios.

Tuesday Apr 19, 2022
Mark Arnold: Changing the Narrative
Tuesday Apr 19, 2022
Tuesday Apr 19, 2022
About Mark
Mark Arnold is the Additional Needs Ministry Director at leading national Christian children’s and youth organisation Urban Saints and is Co-Founder of the Additional Needs Alliance, a vibrant and fast-growing online community. He is an enthusiastic national and international advocate and ally for children and young people with additional needs.
Mark blogs as the national award winning ‘The Additional Needs Blogfather’, and is father to James who is Autistic and also has Learning Difficulties and Epilepsy.
Related Links
www.theadditionalneedsblogfather.com
http://www.urbansaints.org/additionalneedstraining
Instagram: @markjarnold
*Theme music and editing by Open Mic Studios.

Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Kelly Speck: Hope in the Heartache
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
About Kelly
Kelly is a wife, mother of 3, part-time accountant and actively involved in her community. She considers herself a recovering type-A planner ever since the birth of their oldest son nearly fifteen years ago. Her mantra is "Life is not always easy, but life is always beautiful."
Related Links
Instagram: @speckhome
*Theme music and editing by Open Mic Studios.

Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
Amy J. Brown: Special-Needs Adoption
Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
About Amy J. Brown
Amy J. Brown is a wife, mom, writer, mentor, and podcast host of Take Heart podcast. She writes to encourage special needs moms. She shares honestly about her adoption story and parenting a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
Related Links
IG @takeheartspecialmoms
IG @amyjbrown_writer
*Theme music and editing by Open Mic Studios.
https://openmicrecordingstudio.com/

Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
Rising Above Staff: What Restores Your Soul?
Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
By the Brook event for special-needs moms and female caregivers
Check out a few resources available on our website!
Think your church would be a great host site for By the Brook 2022? Our host site application can be found here!
*Theme music and editing by Open Mic Studios.

Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
Stephanie McKeever: Gifts on the Hard Road
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
About Stephanie
Stephanie gives glory to Christ, her Savior, today. She gets to be a wife and mom with kids of all different abilities, including one who is married, one who had special needs who lives in Heaven with Jesus, and our third who came to us through adoption.
Related Links
*Theme music and editing by Open Mic Studios.
https://openmicrecordingstudio.com/

Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
Todd Marthaler: Finding What Your Child Loves
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
About Todd
Todd Marthaler has been married to his wife Hope for 30 years in December, and they have three kids; two girls, Tessa and Emma, and a son Sam (with autism) who just turned 21.
Related Links
www.LinkedIn.com/in/Todd-Marthaler
Respite for Your Mind on the Rising Above app
*Theme music and editing by Open Mic Studios.

Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
Madison Keane: Letting God Restore
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
About Madison
Madison lives in South Carolina with her husband, Kevin, and their 4 year old son, Valor. Valor is smart, kind, loving, and also has autism. Madison has been engaging with Rising Above Ministries for the past two years after her son was diagnosed with autism. She serves in her local church leading worship alongside her husband and by helping establish her church’s first special-needs children’s ministry.
Related Links
Instagram: @mrs_madison_keane
Respite for Your Mind on the Rising Above app
*Theme music and editing by Open Mic Studios.

Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
Carrie Holt: God is in the Hard
Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
About Carrie
Carrie M. Holt is a wife, homeschooling mom of four, writer, speaker, and podcast host. She is passionate about encouraging special needs parents to identify, accept, and thrive in the grieving cycle that is an on-going part of the journey. She co-hosts the podcast Take Heart, alongside Sara Clime and Amy J. Brown.
Related Links
Take Heart Special Moms podcast
Respite for Your Mind - check it out on the Rising Above app!
*Theme music and editing by Open Mic Studios.