When Mama Needs Help
Some challenges are hard to write about because they expose the raw we carry inside. But sometimes we have to talk about what it is like parenting in the trenches — whatever that means for you — because what I am writing here is about you, the parent, and...
What About Dignity and Respect? When Our Disability Attitudes Fail Us
As parents of kids with disabilities, we want our children to be treated with dignity and respect. But what if we, as parents, don’t model that? I’m going to say something that will make a lot of people uncomfortable: sometimes we are the ones who treat our children...
Confessions of a Pastor’s Wife: It’s Hard to Say Goodbye
After 13 years in ministry, today is my last Sunday as a pastor’s wife. I never expected to fall in love with a church. But I did. And it is hard to say goodbye when you know your heart wants to stay behind. This is only our second church, but I did not always...
She Used to Live In My Belly
My youngest daughter has Down syndrome, and the way she learns and makes sense of life is by repetition. My sister recently had a baby, so one of the stories we often talk about is how she, too, used to live in my belly. She loves to talk about it. She was a tiny baby...
Please Don’t Praise Me for Loving My Child With a Disability
It happens to most of us as we parent kids with disabilities, we hear statements like, “You are amazing, I could never do it.” “It must be so hard.” Yes, it’s true, sometimes parenting kids with disabilities can be hard. We do have extra challenges that most parents...
Ellen Stumbo writes and speaks about finding beauty in brokenness with gritty honesty and openness. She's passionate about sharing the real – sometimes beautiful and sometimes ugly – aspects of faith, parenting, special needs, and adoption. Ellen’s writing has appeared on Focus on the Family, LifeWay, MomSense, Not Alone, Mamapedia and the Huffington Post.