April 8, 2025

Parenting children with behavioral issues and trauma can be a difficult position with the added shame and judgment we bring not only on ourselves but also from other people. In this interview, Amy J. Brown shares how she has reframed the narrative around her parenting, some strategies she uses to rest, and how she has found hope in the pause between chaotic events while parenting children with visible or invisible disabilities. 

Resources:
Amy’s Website

Amy’s Substack

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• Get my new resource: 5 Practices For Processing Grief
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

In this episode, Carrie interviews Jen Headlee, whose journey involved infertility, adoption, navigating the NICU, and her son’s many other health challenges. She discusses bargaining with God, guilt over grief, and embracing the reality of her situation. Listen in to Jen’s unexpected life story.

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• Get my new resource: 5 Practices For Processing Grief
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

Grief and the grieving cycle is an ongoing part of our journey as special needs parents. Passionately sharing about how we need to expect grief to be a part of this unexpected journey, Carrie explains four types of grief we encounter as disability parents and gives important things to remember, as well as remembering how in every painful experience we encounter, Jesus is with us.

Resources:
Grief Share
Healing Care Ministries
Story Workshop - Allender Center
There Was Jesus by Zach Williams/Dolly Parton
Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop
The Life We Never Expected - Andrew Wilson
Scriptures Mentioned: Psalm 62:7, Job 42:7

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• Get my new resource: 5 Practices For Processing Grief
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

Today my guest Sara Clime shares how her Caregiver Support System was born out of her son’s diagnosis and her own unique giftings to allow mothers to have time for what really matters. 

Resources:
Sara Clime

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• Get my new resource: 5 Practices For Processing Grief
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

Today on the podcast, my friend and author Sara Clime, from the Take Heart Special Moms Podcast, gets raw and vulnerable while discussing when the unexpected in her life led to her son’s terminal diagnosis, but also a deeper gut-level-honest relationship with God. 

Resources:
Sara Clime
Scripture Mentioned: John 2:22

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• Get my new resource: 5 Practices For Processing Grief
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

Story draws us in; it packs a powerful punch, can give us courage, and speaks to us in ways that other things do not. In this pilot episode of This Unexpected Life podcast, listen in as Carrie shares the importance of story, her goals for this podcast, and how you can be encouraged in this unexpected journey of raising a child with disabilities, medically complex, mental, emotional, or physical needs.

Resources:
Story of Jim Elliott, Nate Saint
Operation Auca: 60 Years Later
Terry Wardle: Healing Care Ministries
Scripture mentioned: Psalm 40:1-3
I’ve Witnessed It

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• Get my new resource: 5 Practices For Processing Grief
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

Welcome to This Unexpected Life, a podcast for parents navigating the challenges of raising a child with disabilities or special needs. Here, we share stories of hope, resilience, and messy faith to help you embrace your journey, work through grief, and thrive in your role. Whether you're just starting out or looking for encouragement to keep going, this is a space where your story matters. Join me as we lean into God's promises and find strength in His steadfast love.

This Unexpected Life Podcast: 
Real Stories, Real Hope For This Unexpected Journey

Show Notes:

• Subscribe to Carrie's e-mail list
• Follow Carrie M Holt on Facebook,  Instagram, or Substack
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• Get my new resource: 5 Practices For Processing Grief
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.