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Episodes
Rising Above Ministries is lifting up the special needs community through support, encouragement, inspiration, and community.
Episodes
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
About Diane
Diane serves as a disability ministry consultant, national speaker, and author of Unbroken Faith: Spiritual Recovery for the Special-Needs Parent (Worthy, 2018). Her work has been featured in Christianity Today, LifeWay, Bible Gateway, Parenting Magazine, Joni and Friends, Moody Radio, Orange, and Jen Hatmaker’s For The Love Podcast.
As a mother to children with multiple disabilities, she is passionate about encouraging struggling families and equipping churches into becoming inclusive faith communities.
Whether by diagnosis, disillusionment, a death—or the death of a dream— everyone gets “disabled” by the jagged edges of a broken planet and must reconcile faith with disappointment. Sin and brokenness may steal, kill, and destroy. But Jesus is an equal opportunity Redeemer.
Diane and her husband, Eddie, live in the San Francisco Bay Area with their two sons. Connect with her at dianedokkokim.com where she shares on life, “Wrecked, redeemed and repurposed.
Favorite Quotes
“The very thing that I thought would decimate my faith, God repurposed into the very thing that would draw me closer to him.” -Diane Dokko Kim
“God didn’t heal him of his cognitive disability, but He healed me of my spiritual disability.” -Diane Dokko Kim
Related Links
Find Diane on Facebook
Find Diane on Instagram
Diane’s book, Unbroken Faith
Tuesday Mar 30, 2021
Tuesday Mar 30, 2021
Enjoy hearing from our Rising Above team about all we have planned in 2021! We are excited to share with you and hope you will join us!
Related Links
By the Brook 2021 - Apply to be a host site or register individually beginning May 1, 2021!
Tuesday Mar 23, 2021
Tuesday Mar 23, 2021
Join Dawn and Lori, as well as director of special education in our local county, Sheri Roberson, as we discuss a topic familiar to special-needs parents everywhere, IEPs!
Knowledge about what to expect can take away the fear of the unknown, so listen and learn some from these experienced special-needs moms.
Related Links
https://vimeo.com/489689091 - Spartan cheerleaders from By the Brook 2020
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
About Cara
Cara is a professor in the Gupta College of Business at the University of Dallas. She is also mom to three little boys - Everett (7 years old), Liam (5), and Alec (3). Everett has Trisomy 21 so a lot of her free time is spent working with different advocacy groups (the DSDN, DSPNT, and their local SPED PTA) and advocating herself through her blog (mamability.com) and social media accounts. Her husband is VP of marketing at a local nonprofit and she also spends time supporting his leadership role and the good work he is doing in the DFW community. Their entire family attends Burleson Church of Christ, albeit virtually these days.
Favorite Quotes
"It's just a part of who we are." - Cara
"You can live the life you thought you were going to live while raising a child with special needs." -Cara
Related Links
Blog: www.mamability.com
Instagram: @mamabilityblog
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
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.
Favorite Quotes
“All I need really is for God to fix me.” -Melanie
“The difference is…perspective.” -Melanie
“I’m intentional about reminding myself what He has done.” -Melanie
Related Links
Tuesday Mar 02, 2021
Tuesday Mar 02, 2021
About Bret
God uniquely prepared Bret to serve with Joni and Friends, an international ministry serving the spiritual, physical, social, and practical needs of people living with disability around the world. He grew up with a sister with a significant physical disability, served in pastoral ministry for 19 years focusing on discipleship and counseling, and has spent the past 7 years with Joni and Friends focusing on training and equipping churches to welcome and embrace individual and families impacted by disability to find their place of belonging in the body of Christ.
Favorite Quotes
“The biggest barrier [to churches reaching out to the disability community] is ignorance. We don’t know what we don’t know.” -Bret
“Our belief system about people with disabilities can lead us astray.” -Bret
“A lot of churches get stuck on care, but we need to get to friendship.” -Bret
“There are people in your church with disabilities whether you know it or not.” -Bret
Related Links
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
About the Episode
Dawn & Lori are back to discuss “managing the chaos.” Between Becky, Lori, and Dawn, their lives are all so different, but they all have systems in place to manage all the things as special-needs moms.
Enjoy their tips! We’d love to hear from you on the ways you have learned to manage the chaos.
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Tuesday Feb 09, 2021
Tuesday Feb 09, 2021
About the Brooks
Daniel & Dusti Brooks were introduced to special-needs parenthood when their second son, Max, was born with a rare medical condition. Their story has had its ups and downs as they have dealt with many scary situations surrounding his condition, but they have learned what it means to embrace the challenges, hold tightly to one another, and seek out community that understands.
Related Resources
Daniel & Dusti will be the hosts for the virtual TWOgether Marriage Conference on Friday, February 26. We would love for you to join us for this time of encouragement and community. We are currently running a buy one, get one free special on tickets. Tickets are $10 per couple, and currently, if you purchase a ticket, you'll get an extra to share with a friend! Sign up here to join us!
Tuesday Feb 02, 2021
Tuesday Feb 02, 2021
About the Nixons
Eric and Candy met and graduated together from Eastern University. Eric has a bachelor's degree in Business and Candy has a bachelor’s degree in Special, Elementary and Early Childhood Education and graduate work in Early Intervention Services and Ministerial Studies. Together, they have over 40 years of family and professional experience in disability and church ministry. They never imagined in 30 years of marriage that their story would include their three children being diagnosed with a rare Primary Immune Deficiency Disease at young ages and then for Eric to be diagnosed with MS shortly after the children. Just five years ago, for Candy was diagnosed with the same disease their children have.
God has woven their passion for working with those affected by disabilities and their passion for the local church together. Eric and Candy facilitate several support groups for dads, moms and parents through their local church. Their vision is to provide a safe place for parents of children or adults with special needs to share their pain, loss, frustrations, joy, successes, and to find hope and encouragement through Scripture, fellowship, and prayer. On a nice day, you can find Eric out fishing, hunting, gardening with Candy, walking with their rescue dogs, or reading.
Favorite Quotes
“I needed people and I needed God.” -Eric
“I don’t really know how people go through disabilities without knowing God.” -Eric
"In my wedding vow, I said for better or for worse.” -Eric
Related Links
Comman Man, Extraordinary Call
The Irresistible Book series with Joni & Friends (12 titles available for free on their website) --Candy was the contributing author in the "Doing Life Together" book.
Unbroken Faith: Spiritual Recovery for the Special Needs Parent by Diane Dokko Kim
Sharing Love Abundantly in Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages for Parents Raising Children with Diablilities by Jolene Philo