Jonathan Shradar

"Trudge: to walk slowly and with heavy steps...." We are inundated with messages. Who to vote for. How to think. What holidays to celebrate. Blah, blah, blah. Given the immensity of the noise, I have figured I was okay not adding to it a bunch. So I have been a bad blogger. A post a month? Why would anyone read that or pay attention with such random frequency. Truth is that life right now is exceedingly good, but it is a trudge. Full schedules, sick kids, real life hurts in those we care for, shepherding God's people, figuring out the future... blah, blah, blah. So I have been walking slowly with heavy steps! In all of it however I am learning anew to trust Jesus. How can I not given his faithfulness to this point?! It has been a source of peace, direction and passion. Trusting Jesus, even in the craziness of our time is worthwhile, and it is good. So whatever your trudge; however bad the options at the polls, however good or bad the news. Live life trusting Jesus. Trusti

As our family has been living this adoption adventure and as we have been preparing and learning what it means to have a child with special needs, I was thankful when Crossway published The Life We Never Expected: Hopeful Reflections on the Challenges of Parenting Children with Special Needs by Andrew and Rachel Wilson. This book takes you into the lives (it feels like you are experiencing life as they do in real time) of parents learning to process and live with the unexpected special needs of their two children, both with regressive autism. It is a frank account of this difficulties, the unknowns and the faithful trust they have in Christ and his plan for their lives. Nothing is easy about their story but they have an outlook defined by a hope in their Savior that is certainly a model for others. The chapters are brief reflections that help you form a pattern for processing circumstances and the challenges of providing and caring for special needs children. There are some practical