Love Fiercely: Lessons from the Dad of a Special Needs Daughter - 4004

A Must-Read for Christian Parents of Special Needs Children! Love is fierce. Love is patient and kind, as St. Paul tells us, but love is also fierce. Every parent of a special needs child must discover this. The world looks different to a parent of a child with severe special needs. Those outside the family, looking in, usually see only the hardship or the beauty. There is nothing more tragic, they say. Or The child is an angel. But this is far from the lived reality. In Love Fiercely, a Catholic father offers prayerful insight into the experience of raising and loving his eldest daughter. Elizabeth Bodoh is nearly blind, nonverbal, suffers from epilepsy and cerebral palsy, and loves music. She enjoys cuddles and eating. A shunt manages the fluid on her brain, and a wheelchair helps her family move her. Through this book, Andrew Bodoh offers twelve bottom-line up-front Christian lessons for the parents of children with special needs, and for those who encounter them. In each lesson, Andrew weaves his personal narrative with Scriptural or prayerful reflections—from his memories of a neonatal specialist pressuring his wife to abort the pregnancy, to the health crises Elizabeth experienced even as Andrew’s wife delivered their fourth child. At times, Andrew was writing this book from the hospital, with Elizabeth. By embracing his family’s vulnerability, Andrew shows the joy of suffering for another, and the painful courage inherent in love. Family and friends of parents raising special needs children will find here a peek into the parents' challenges: from a sense of isolation, to the fear of failure, to constant awareness of their family's vulnerability. This book will equip the reader to provide support and demonstrate their love for these parents. Engaged and recently married couples will discover the fearful and awesome significance of their marriage vows. In sickness and in health is not limited to the wellbeing of the spouses, but extends to all their family. They will see the meaning of spousal commitment, the need for God's grace, and the importance of finding joy in suffering through life's travails. Those committed to pro-life service will encounter a heart wrenching account of the challenges and beauty in choosing life, even when a parent has every reason and opportunity not to. They will find a new approach to understanding, through secular terms, the meaning of human dignity--an approach that finds its full meaning in Christ's Gospel of Life, as enunciated by the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. Contents: Lesson 1 I Am Not in Control, and That’s Okay: Trusting a Loving God Page 1 Lesson 2 Sing in Public: Helping Others Encounter Your Child Page 11 Lesson 3 Love Fiercely: Confronting Injustices Page 21 Lesson 4 Live in Mercy: Acknowledging Your Imperfections Page 29 Lesson 5 Connect to Others: Building a Care Network Page 39 Lesson 6 Sacrifice Is Joy: Loving Through the Suffering Page 49 Lesson 7 Accept the Preparation: Seeing God in Your Story Page 59 Lesson 8 Begin with Human Dignity: Rejecting “Quality of Life” Ethics Page 69 Lesson 9 I May Be Broken: Encountering Our Limits Page 79 Lesson 10 Walk with Those Who Walk with God: Living in the Mystical Body Page 91 Lesson 11 Become the Ones Who Made It Through: Managing Medical Crises Page 101 Lesson 12 Be Grateful: Recognizing God’s Gift Page 109 Contact the author at lovefiercelybook@gmail.com.
ASIN: B0DRZZDQLW
VSKU: BVV.B0DRZZDQLW.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Bodoh, Andrew T.
Binding: Paperback