When you hear someone share their hard circumstances, do you know how to offer empathy? Would you say you know how to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and really enter into the pain with them?

I am so excited to talk about this today on the podcast with Amanda Shanks. She is the mother of Taylor, and her daughter has a rare diagnosis called Pura Syndrome. I love that Amanda and I are having this conversation because I think sometimes when we don’t know what to say, we think it is better to say nothing. So, Amanda is going to talk to us about what is looks like to offer empathy without pity as well as what does it look like to enter into someone else’s hard circumstances and put yourself in their shoes. So, Amanda is going to talk to us about what it looks like to offer empathy without pity as well as what it looks like to enter into someone else’s hard circumstances and put yourself in their shoes. She is going to help us with that language, and I know you are going to learn so much from her!

Book Recommendations:

• *I Will Push You: A Journey of 500 miles, Two Best Friends and One Wheelchair by Patrick Gray and Justin Skeesuck
• *Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved by Kate Bowler
• *Run to the Light by Laura King Edwards
• Books by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Podcast Recommendations:

• Depth Podcast Episode 52 with Chris Simning
• Depth Podcast Episode 86 with Katherine Wolf

Amanda Shanks is a passionate writer, speaker, teacher, and advocate.  She is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Therapist specializing in Reproductive and Maternal Mental Health and currently serves as the President of the PURA Syndrome Foundation. She previously served as the Director of Fundraising for the PURA Syndrome Foundation and was a founding member and leader of the Annual World Rare Disease Day Rally of Charlotte and the Rare and Undiagnosed Network of Charlotte (RUNCharlotte).  She also volunteers at Shining Hope Farms, an organization which provides hippotherapy services to children with disabilities.  She has represented the PURA Syndrome Foundation and actively participates in various conferences hosted by Global Genes, NORD, and the EveryLife Foundation.  In addition to her rare disease advocacy work, she serves as an Elder at Avondale Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC, and recently followed a call to Union Presbyterian Seminary where she is pursuing a Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Christian Education.  You can connect with Amanda on her website or on Instagram and Facebook @ToughLikeTaylor   

*Note: If you are interested in purchasing this book or the books recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!