A Special Hope

Where is God when your child is hurting? How do we pray for them? How do we cope in the face of crisis and chronic illness? Evana Sandusky talks about her children's medical complexities, stories of their life, how her faith was challenged, and how she overcame doubts about God.

Evana is a God-fearing wife and mother of two children. Her daughter has Down syndrome and a complex medical history. Professionally, Evana is a pediatric speech-language pathologist in private practice.

Read the show notes on Hope in Autism.

Find Evana on Facebook, Twitter, and her website.

What does it feel like to truly belong? Cara Milne talks with Sarah Broady about her book, "Building Community: Practical Ways to Build Inclusive Communities for People Who are Vulnerable". We discuss Cara's story of entering the disability field, what "community" really looks like, belonging, and the intersection of faith and disability. Read Cara's interview show notes to read more about Cara.

Find Cara on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her website, MPowered Planning.

Jason and Sarah discuss Jason's book, Aching Joy, and we dive deep into being transparent, choosing joy, embracing pain, and especially finding hope.

Bronwyn Murphy is both the mother of a child with special needs as well as a ministry leader in her church, and founder of a special needs support group for moms in California. We talk about strategies both parents and ministry leaders can use to welcome individuals with special needs into the church and how to openly communicate needs. She offers wonderful hope and encouragement for both parents and ministry leaders to persevere even when things are hard.

Bronwyn serves as the Inclusion Coordinator at University Covenant Church (UCC) in Davis, CA and is the co-facilitator of Me Too!, a support group for mothers of children with special needs. She also serves as a board member for University Covenant Nursery School, UCC's inclusive weekday preschool. She is married with three children and has sat on both sides of the IEP table both as a special education teacher and as a parent.

Sarah and Melanie discuss special needs motherhood and Melanie's devotional, Bundle of Joy.

Married for 25 years, Melanie is the mom of two young men, one of whom was born with a rare genetic disorder. Their family resides in sunny South Florida where she attempts to balance a full-time career, in Human Resources, full-time caregiving, and full-time passion for ministry to other special needs parents. You can find her writing on the Special Needs Parenting blog at Key Ministry and her website is Redefine Special.

Melanie and Sarah will both be speaking at Key Ministry's Inclusion Fusion Live! Conference on April 5th-6th in Bay Village, OH. Register for the conference and join A Special Hope Podcast in person for some off-the-cuff interviews!

Regardless of the size of the church, community outreach to the disability community is not only possible, but commanded by Jesus himself.

We are here to help.

Most churches aren't opposed to the idea of getting involved in Disability Ministry, they just don't know where to start. We can come up with a customized plan for any church.

Ability Ministry Website

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Jenn shares her story dealing with grief after an autism diagnosis, how God met her on the beach, and how she has moved forward in hope.

Jenn Soehnlin is a middle school English teacher, writer, and mother to two sons, whom she describes as "precious little lads who are precious blessings and who both have special needs."

Her heart is to share encouragement and God's truths with moms who are also traveling the special needs parenting journey. When she's not busy taking her boys to yet another appointment, she enjoys hiking, reading, writing, and blogging on her website at embracing - dot - life. embracing.life.

If you'd like to connect with Jenn, you can find her on

Facebook: @embracingthisspeciallife

Twitter: @Jenn-Soehnlin

Instagram: @jennembracinglife

Don't forget to check out her book, Embracing This Special Life, on Amazon, or find the link on her website, embracing.life.

John Felageller discusses his journey as a dad with his son's autism, how it affected their marriage, his relationship with his son, their friends, and how deeply it impacted him as a dad. So many people can hear their own story in his, and despite struggles, there is beautiful hope to hold onto.

Find John on Facebook @johnsspecialneedsblog, on Twitter @jfelageller74, and Instagram @jfelageller. You can check out his blog posts on Key Ministry's Special Needs Parenting blog, https://keyministry.org/specialneedsparenting.

A Special Hope kicks off with a very special guest: Samuel Broady. I had the pleasure of interviewing my own son for Episode 1 of this podcast. Sam talks about what it's like having autism, what he hopes for his future, his faith, trying not to break the TV, and (bonus content!) how to make stovetop popcorn with even more foodie bonus content to follow.

Listen to clips from upcoming episodes of A Special Hope