Does a church really need a disability ministry? A place where people with disabilities can come together for prayer, support, and encouragement. I used to think so, but now I’m not so sure. The very best experiences I’ve ever had are when my friends go out of their way to include me despite my physical…

When God first calls me to something new, I often respond with reticence. Who am I that God would use me? What do I have to say over someone else? There are plenty of other people more polished, more talented, and more faithful than I am. Yet, God still calls me to do His work.…

Before I begin, I wanted to share a brief update on the future of the invaluable invalid blog. While I think the quality of my writing on here is adequate, everything else about the blog is pretty lame. There’s nothing about it that visually reflects my personal aesthetic, nothing other than my writing voice that…

Recently I was asked to speak about how the hope of the resurrection impacts my daily life and I thought it might be helpful to recap and expand on that talk here. First, what do I mean by “the resurrection”? Along with forgiveness of sins and restored relationship with God, another result of the gospel is…

The most difficult part of living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy has nothing to do with the physical effects of the disease. The hardest part is the expectation that I should be content with a diminished life, a life spent isolated from the outside world contributing to or enjoying very little of it. People often tell…

I recently returned from a two week vacation at our family cabin in the lush forest on the banks of the Gallatin River outside Yellowstone National Park. With Internet service just slightly better than dial-up and no TV, my best options for entertainment were reading books and solving crossword puzzles. On my reading list this year…

Earlier today, I gave up on writing a blog post for this week. I wrote three paragraphs, tweaked them for a while, and then erased them. The writing was clunky and uninspired and I couldn’t find the words to articulate what I wanted to say. Mondays are typically a day off for me. So, after…

Yesterday I finished reading “Garden City” by John Mark Comer. The book is packed with wisdom about work, rest, and what it means to be human, both now and into eternity. As I was finishing up the book, a section about envy caught my attention. I don’t think of myself as a particularly envious person,…

A lot of inspiration for this blog comes to me while I’m sitting in church. And it happened again this week. At my church yesterday we started a new sermon series about new beginnings, entitled “How to Begin Again.” As Pastor Guy was giving us a preview of next week’s sermon, He said, ‘In order…

I was sick with a cold last week and couldn’t bring myself to write anything worth reading. I’m better now and back to writing every week! That’s my goal anyway… In other news: I’d like to write a Q & A post answering some of your questions at the beginning of April. If you have questions…

Have you ever been in a situation of complete helplessness? A place where, unless a miracle happens, you’re completely stuck? I experience these kinds of situations fairly often and, no matter how hard I try to calm down, my body immediately goes into a panic. My heart races and my breathing becomes labored even though…

Life with Muscular Dystrophy is challenging. I’m hesitant to even mention my diagnosis because you might look it up and start thinking I’m due to die any day now. This really isn’t the case. I’m in good health and people in my condition are living longer and longer due to advances in medicine. My gradual…