Spiritually Minded Women Podcast
Spiritually Minded Women Podcast
Darla Trendler
SMM 029: Triumphs and Struggles Mothering a Special Needs Child || Kay West
29 minutes Posted Oct 24, 2018 at 12:00 am.
0:00
29:12
Download MP3
Show notes

Episode 29 of the podcast is my first time having a guest back for a second interview. In episode 7 of the podcast I interviewed Kay West and shared her faith-filled motherhood story of infertility, adoption, and miscarriage. Today, I have Kay back as a guest to discuss both the triumphs and struggles she has faced with her daughter, Eden, who is a special needs child.

Show Recap Triumphs

Eden was adopted at birth and due to choices made by her birth mother has brain damage, asthma, autism and will someday need a cornea transplant. Kay shares how God revealed to her early in Eden's life that although her body is damaged, her spirit is perfect. Kay also discusses how Eden's condition has affected her other child, Isaac.

Struggles

When Eden entered middle school, Kay and her husband started to notice negative changes in Eden. As she started to regress, Kay discovered Eden was being bullied at school. She shares how their family handled this heartbreaking situation and what they did to help Eden.

Kay gives a message of hope to mothers who discover their child is being bullied. She says to help your child feel validated and to know home is a safe place to come for support. Kay also recommends to other mothers to pray and listen to that intuition to know how best to help a child. She shares the process she and her husband go through to know how to help both Eden and Isaac in difficult situations.

Sharing Kindness

One of the good things that has come from Eden's experiences being bullied is Kay and her husband have helped their children start an online shop called Quietly Being Kind. The shop features postcards with Eden's artwork and kindness quote that can be purchased and sent to others as a reminder to be kind. Kay's children share a portion of the proceeds of the shop with an organization that helps children. They also hope to feature other children like Eden to help raise awareness of the importance of showing kindness.

Kay's journey of raising a special needs child has not been easy. Although she doesn't always see it in the moment, Kay can look back and see God's hand guiding her in motherhood. She knows He didn't send any of us here to fail. As long as we keep trusting Him, he will open the path.

 

Show Notes Follow Kay

Blog: threetoquesandatiara.com Instagram: Instagram.com/threetoquesandatiara Facebook: Facebook.com/threetoquesandatiara

To purchase postcards and find out more about the mission behind Kay's kids' shop, go to Quietly Being Kind.

Share Your Experience

At the beginning of the episode I shared how YOU can be part of a future episode of the podcast. Each month I will be asking listeners to share their answer to a specific question about motherhood and spirituality. If you want to participate in the November episode, here's how to do it:

  1. At your convenience, call this number 480-525-7145.
  2. Leave a message starting with your name and where you are from. For example, "Hi, this is Darla from Arizona."
  3. Give your answer to the question: How have you seen and felt God as your partner in motherhood?"
  4. Feel free to share a specific story or experience. Please keep your answer to under 3 minutes so I can share as many answers as possible.
  5. Submit your answer/message by Sunday, October 28th.

If you're hearing or reading this after the deadline, call the number anyway to hear the current question and give your answer.

Follow Spiritually Minded Mom

Blog: spirituallymindedmom.com Instagram: Instagram.com/spirituallymindedmom Facebook: facebook.com/spirituallymindedmom Podcast: Spiritually Minded Mom on iTunes