Ashley River Baptist Church - thanks for having me!
Nathan and I with Dawn on the pier - so good to see her!
Historic Drayton Hall from the reflecting pool
Nathan and the sting ray - you go!
We went boogie boarding nearly every day
Our alligator neighbor.
Well, this month has flown by! I have been working non-stop on my new book and we finally have a title – Life Not Typical: How Special Needs Parenting Changed My Faith and My Song. “Typical” is the word used in the special needs community for a typically developing kid, aka, one without special needs. The book is basically a memoir of what we went through with Toby while we were also experiencing my dad’s death and the birth of this music ministry. I really hope it will encourage people to trust God in hard times, and also be a resource for parents who are looking for help for their kids. We’re including a lot of information to that end in the appendices – resources, check lists, interviews with different therapists on what to look for, etc. So far, the feedback has been terrific on pre-releases, so I’m excited!
We also ran a cover contest – feel free to check it out and vote for your favorite! We’re going to pick a winner next week. Just know that some of the themes in the book involve the beach and math, so that’s why you will see those ideas on the covers. The one that has a few versions is showing some color variations. We also still need to make a few changes to the back cover copy, so don’t worry if you see some mistakes there.
This month we also took a wonderful family vacation to South Carolina spending time on the beaches and in Charleston and while I was there I did the services at Ashley River Baptist Church in Charleston. It was a great morning – the congregation was so warm and friendly, and I got to do most of the service which was so fun. They also televise their second service, so it’s fun to think about who else may be listening that you can’t even see. Thanks for having me, and I hope I see you again soon! We had a personally wonderful moment too – found out that one of our dear Young Life kids from NY who we loved so much, Dawn, now lives just blocks from that church (she was driving home from work and saw my name on the marquee!) and we got to see her and spend time with her that morning – what a blessing!
We also had a couple of adventures. We visited a historic plantation and also the only working tea plantation in North America. An eight-foot alligator lived behind our house which was fun, one kid got stung by a jellyfish and one was almost killed by a chicken (or so she thought!) which was less fun, and my husband heroically rescued a really mad sting ray off the beach armed with only a kid’s sand shovel. What a guy! All in all, an awesome trip. Now we’re home, and slammed into the back-to-school. Lots of seasons.