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Rising Above with Becky Davidson is a place of encouragement, honesty, and hope for families navigating the unique joys and challenges of life with disability. Each episode offers heartfelt conversations, practical wisdom, and faith-filled insights to help you know you’re not alone on the journey. Becky shares stories from her own life as well as uplifting perspectives from guests who understand the road, equipping you with tools and inspiration to face each day with courage. Whether you’re seeking community, strength, or a fresh reminder of God’s faithfulness, this podcast invites you to rise above the struggles and discover joy in the midst of it all.
Episodes
Tuesday Sep 29, 2020
Tuesday Sep 29, 2020
About Lee & Sandra
Sandra Peoples is a special needs mom and sibling. She's the author of Unexpected Blessings: The Joys and Possibilities of Life in a Special-Needs Family. Her husband, Lee, is a pastor and and she serves as the special needs ministry director at their church outside of Houston, TX. We know you will enjoy hearing from their real-life experience as they have walked through the special needs journey. They have so much wisdom to share about raising both a child with special needs and a typical child as well. You will be blessed!
Tuesday Sep 22, 2020
Tuesday Sep 22, 2020
About Dawn & Lori
Dawn & Lori are long-time friends of Rising Above Ministries. As special needs parents, they “get it” and love having community with other moms. If you’ve attended By the Brook for the past few years, you will probably remember them as the entertainment! As good friends of Becky’s, these two will become regulars around here as they discuss different topics and challenges that special needs moms face. We’d love to hear from you about some of the topics you’d like them to discuss. Message us on Facebook or send an email to dhammond@risingaboveministries.org to suggest topics!
Related Links
Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
About LJ & Jessica
LJ & Jessica are the father and mother of 2 amazing children, Nadia Elizabeth (16) and Zion Alexander Coates (14). LJ is an intensive care nurse and Jessica is the Chief Executive Officer for a trade Association. They've been married for almost 17 years, and their son Zion has profound special needs. They are both natives of Alabama but currently live in Columbia, Maryland.
Favorite Quotes
“I sent help, you just didn’t recognize it.” -Jessica
“I have to learn to recognize the support where people are.” - Jessica
“Zion has blessed my life. I feel chosen.” -Jessica
“I know I am a better person, because of my son’s life.” -Jessica
Related Links
Tuesday Sep 08, 2020
Tuesday Sep 08, 2020
About Jarell
Drawing from life and giving others the opportunity to learn with us, is a core attribute of J.Roach Presentations. Jarell says, "our service must require restoring the honor & dignity to humanity. By applying our minds within the purpose of everyday life, we believe that we can be partakers of an emerging culture of thinkers & doers that truly desire to see the best in others without any strings attached."
He serves as Campus Life Director with the Youth For Christ movement, overseeing multiple ministry sites in his home town. He also represents the organization as one of its national camp speakers (www.goyfc.org). For nearly two decades he and his family have served as members of the Nebraska Air Force Reserve, completing two tours of duty.
A natural-born comedian and speaker, J.Roach is using his gift to encourage, elevate, and entertain others everywhere he goes.
Favorite Quotes
"God has changed my life." -Jarell
“What hope does, is it allows us by God’s love and grace to look beyond the person and see the potential of Jesus.” -Jarell
“We speak life in order to give life to others.” -Jarell
Related Links
Extraordinary Legacy : A Virtual Event for Special Needs Dads
Tuesday Sep 01, 2020
Tuesday Sep 01, 2020
Jess Ronne, who you might know as “Jess Plus the Mess,” has such a story to tell on her life of being a mom and caregiver of 8 children, one of whom has profound special needs. Her testimony and message will challenge and encourage you to be honest about the realities about caregiving and how to accept and ask for help.
About Jess
Jess Ronne is an author, speaker, podcast host, documentary producer,and caregiver advocate. She is founder and executive director of The Lucas Project—a non-profit dedicated to providing recognition, resources, and respite for special needs families. She and her husband Ryan live in Tennessee with their 8 children, including their son Lucas who has profound special needs. Her story of beauty from ashes has been shared on The Today Show, Daily Mail and Huffington Post and is detailed in her memoir Sunlight Burning at Midnight. To follow the ongoing saga she can be found at www.jessplusthemess.com or www.thelucasproject.org
Favorite Quotes
“You have a choice. You can wallow in the despair and in the muck or you can rise up and start taking one step after another and move toward something in your life.” - Jess Ronne
”Recognize what your true need is and don’t hide behind this, ‘I’m fine, everything’s fine.’ Start to tell the truth.” - Jess Ronne
Related Links
https://www.jessplusthemess.com
Tuesday Aug 25, 2020
Tuesday Aug 25, 2020
About Mattea:
Mattea describes herself as an average young adult with a physical disability. She is a brand new college student and a lover of all things Disney! Recently, she created a blog to spread awareness for the physically disabled community. She has always had a passion to talk; her parents tell her she came out of the womb having a conversation. Enjoy hearing Mattea share how both of her parents have encouraged her to use her passion to spread awareness about her situation to help others and the many ways she has put that into action.
Favorite Quotes:
“They’ve always said, ‘If you’re going to do something, you have to find a way to do it.’" -Mattea quoting her parents
“'You can’t make an excuse about being in a wheelchair…It’s a blessing…and it’s a gift. Use your gift.'” -Mattea quoting her parents
“It’s ok to be different and be proud that you’re different.” -Mattea
“I’m ok with how I am and I want to better the world and make it a better place for other people that have disabilities.” -Mattea
Related Links:
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