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Rising Above Ministries is lifting up the special needs community through support, encouragement, inspiration, and community.
Episodes
Tuesday Aug 18, 2020
Tuesday Aug 18, 2020
About Sandy
Sandy lives in New Jersey with her husband, Terry, of 29 years and their 3 young adult children. Sandy and Terry became special needs parents over 20 years ago when their son contracted an illness that left him with both physical and cognitive disabilities.
After leaving her career in marketing and brand management to care and advocate for her son, Sandy became a certified professional coach. As a coach, Sandy’s desire is to help special needs parents who’ve adopted a “disabled life” mindset reclaim a sense of joy and freedom.
Favorite Quotes:
“God is not surprised by Covid.” -Sandy
“I believe that He wants to show us His way through this.” -Sandy
"It might not be easy, but He’ll be in it with us.” -Sandy
“I prayed and I did the next thing in front of me.” -Sandy
“He ended up in the place that we wanted him to be. I did not know that when I started.” -Sandy
“God was with me every single, every step of the way.” -Sandy
“It really is a trust walk, every step.” -Sandy
Related Links:
To join Sandy or one of our other community groups launching in September, sign up here!
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
What a challenge it can be in today's world for fathers to step up to the plate in the face of a diagnosis. Today, we wanted to share a conversation Becky had recently with three dads who have done just that. They have walked through the challenges that come with raising a child with special needs and learned lessons along the way. We hope their conversation will be an encouragement to you as a special needs dad to do the hard things and lead your family well, even in the face of a challenging situation.
About the Dads-
- Lee Peoples is a pastor in Texas and you may know him as the husband of Sandra Peoples. He is a dad to two sons, one who has autism.
- Wally Bryan is has been on the podcast before with his wife Lisa. Together, they have two children, Kelly and Matthew who is their adult son with Fragile X syndrome.
- David Adams is a physician and a single dad to three sons, one with autism.
Resource for Dads
Common Man, Extraordinary Call - a book written by Jeff Davidson with Becky Davidson that challenges, equips, and inspires fathers of children with special needs.
Tuesday May 19, 2020
Tuesday May 19, 2020
Listen as Becky and Kim talk about their favorite parts of the By the Brook Retreat for special needs moms each year AND the ways we've modified it this year to be accessible to you wherever you are! Lots of curve balls have been thrown into 2020, but we can honestly say we're as excited as ever about what God is going to do through By the Brook Virtual this year. We hope you will join us online for this FREE retreat!
Extra items for purchase:
By the Brook Box with lots of fun and relaxing items inside
Friday May 08, 2020
Friday May 08, 2020
About Jolene
Jolene Philo is both parent and daughter of loved ones with special needs and disabilities, as well as a former educator who worked with children for 25 years. She’s written several books about caregiving, special needs parenting, and childhood PTSD, including Sharing Love Abundantly in Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages® for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities which she co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman. She speaks internationally about caregiving and parenting children with special needs and blogs at www.DifferentDream.com Jolene and her husband live in central Iowa.
Favorite Quotes
Let this time create empathy in you. May you see what our disability community lives with all the time and then you reach out to them as individuals and as a corporate church. -Jolene Philo
Don’t discount your experience and what you’ve learned. Share it. -Jolene Philo
Related Links
Tuesday Apr 21, 2020
Tuesday Apr 21, 2020
So many times, it is difficult for men to open up about their challenges and struggles, but as a special needs dad, it is so important to have a “band of brothers” who can relate to the unique challenges that come with raising a special needs child. This is a passion of our friend Eric Nixon.
About Eric
Eric lives in Pennsylvania and will be celebrating his 30 years of marriage this year to his wife Candy. Eric and his family spent more than a decade living in hospitals with three sick kids at Children’s Hospital until all three children were diagnosed with a rare primary immune deficiency.
Additionally, Eric has been living with multiple sclerosis for the last 14 years. He rides every year in the MS City to Shore bike ride riding 50 miles from Pennsylvania to the Jersey shore. His wife Candy works at the Joni and Friends Pennsylvania office, and both of them have devoted their lives to helping others affected by disability. They both run individual and marriage support groups for individuals and couples affected by disabilities.
Related Links
No More Peanut Butter Sandwiches
Common Man, Extraordinary Call
Goodnight Superman - Jeff Davidson's blog about being a special needs dad
Thursday Apr 02, 2020
Thursday Apr 02, 2020
Enjoy this discussion with Kandra Benton about looking at the flip side. Despite challenges, Kandra makes the choice to look at the positives in life and get the most out of each day. During this time of social distancing, you will be encouraged and challenged to hear this perspective, and we hope you feel motivated to focus on the good things in your own life during this unique season.
About Kandra
Kandra Benton has been married to her husband Stephen for 18 years. They have three daughters and live outside of Nashville. Kandra is a homeschooling momma, connoisseur of all things taco related, slightly obsessed with Christmas and a lover of writing and words. She spends much of her free time writing about what the Lord is teaching her through raising her daughters and life around her. She loves to laugh and will do what it takes to make you giggle before she leaves your presence!
Thursday Mar 26, 2020
Thursday Mar 26, 2020
About Sandra
As the sibling to a special needs sister and the mother to a special needs son, Sandra has incredible insight into the caregiving world and offers some great suggestions for staying connected during these unprecedented times.
Resources
Self-care for the Special Needs Mom- facebook group
Self-Care and Soul-Care for the Caregiver- podcast
Unexpected Blessings (Free right now on Kindle!)
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Life as we know it has changed a lot over the past few days. Join us as Becky & Kim have a conversation about the impact COVID-19 has had on everyone, especially special needs families during these uncertain days. In addition to discussing the changes, we promise to bring a message of hope amidst the chaos as well.
Tuesday Mar 03, 2020
Tuesday Mar 03, 2020
About Matt
When Matt Mooney and his wife Ginny were 30 weeks pregnant with their first child-they received a diagnosis of trisomy 18. Eight weeks later, their son, Eliot, was born. Eliot lived for 99 days and Matt chronicled his life through a blog that would be the beginnings of "A Story Unfinished"- a book written by Matt about Eliot's life and the lessons God taught them through their son. Eliot's story has since been shared with the world through a short video that has been viewed millions of times and was featured on The Today Show as well as The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Matt and Ginny founded 99 Balloons, an organization working with persons experiencing disability locally and globally. The organization grew out of a respite night called "rEcess" that the Mooneys started in their community and has now spread to over 50 sites in three countries.
He currently lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he busies himself raising Eliot's siblings: Hazel, Anders and Lena. Matt & Ginny adopted Lena from Ukraine after getting to know her through the global work of 99 Balloons. Lena has severe disabilities of her own- including autism and cerebral palsy. These experiences have birthed in Matt a passion for championing more inclusive communities around the globe.
SOAR Getaway for Special Needs Dads
We are thrilled Matt Mooney will be joining us for our special needs dads getaway in April. As you will hear from listening to the podcast, Matt is a whole lot of fun, but doesn't shy away from talking about real life and the challenges of special needs parenting and grief. Dads- we know you'll be blessed and hope you'll join us for this weekend (April 17-19, 2020).
Related Links
Soar Getaway for Special Needs Dads
A Story Unfinished by Matt Mooney
Tuesday Feb 18, 2020
Tuesday Feb 18, 2020
Dr. Joe and Cindi Ferrini have been married over 40 years, have 3 children (A son with special needs who lives with them and 2 married daughters and grandchildren living nearby in the Cleveland, OH area.) They have spoken nationally on special needs and with FamilyLife Weekend to Remember Get-A-Ways on the topic of marriage and family. They have written books individually and together, their most recent being "LOVE ALL-Ways: Embracing Marriage Together on the Special Needs Journey".
Related Links:
Love All-ways book by Dr. Joe & Cindi Ferrini
See more:
My Marriage Matters on Facebook
Favorite Quotes:
"The covenant relationship says that God brought us together for His purposes, and one of his primary purposes is to make us holy, not to make us happy." -Joe Ferrini
"We will have those moments and seasons where we will feel like we can't do it anymore- and that doesn't mean that something's wrong with you, [or] something's wrong with your marriage, it simply means that in that moment, you've had enough." -Cindi Ferrini
"We all need to have time for ourselves, for us as a couple, to really evaluate what’s important to us. And then to get up and do it again tomorrow morning." -Cindi Ferrini