Unbroken Faith, by Diane Dokko Kim

Children are a blessing, and all children can present challenges to any parent.  But parents of children with disabilities know and experience unique challenges.  Diane Dokko Kim, who has a child with autism, has words of encouragement for parents in Unbroken Faith: Spiritual Recovery for the Special Needs Parent.

This book of testimony, devotionals, prayers, and scripture hits on themes that will ring true to parents of children with disabilities.  Kim writes with vulnerability, admitting her own sense of unpreparedness and inadequacy as a parent.  She writes of the grief of discovering one's child has a disability, whether in an ultrasound, in the delivery room, or even years after the child is born.  Yet she points to the great cloud of witnesses in scripture who "demonstrate that I can weep and worship at the same time."

Each short chapter offers stories from her own life and a few others, practical considerations for parents, relevant scripture, a prayer, and questions for reflection.  Obviously all families' experiences are different, but Kim points out how we all have the same access to God.  With great honesty, she reminds us that, especially in the Western church, we might be expecting life in Christ to be marked by comfort and ease.  As we experience disability in our families, we may face pain and injustice.  We face the reality that our children may never "victoriously cross the threshold of adult independence."  We realize that the world may view our child as lesser because of his or her disabilities.  Kim writes, "Our child with a disability may not be the one we expected--or the idealized child we wanted.  But God will repurpose disability, to refashion us into spiritual warriors and witnesses we didn't know we could be."

Unbroken Faith is brutally honest, scripturally sound, and ultimately hopeful.  These selections will help parents of children with disabilities feel a little less alone and isolated, and will encourage them to look to the scripture and its author for hope and truth.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!