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Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him

Sally Clarkson

Top 10 Best Quotes

“it is easy for parents to pass on unnecessary guilt, shame, and insecurity to their children because we fear the rejection of critical and judgmental people in our lives. So if I can help other parents understand the profound importance of accepting children as they are, perhaps I can save those children from some of the anguish I felt for many years.”

“We have to learn to lean into life as something beautiful even if it is not exactly what we expected. Trusting that God works all things together for the good despite the challenges we face is a gift of worship we give to God. Acceptance with humility must eventually come to each of us if we are to please God and not always fight against the limitations of our own family pattern.”

“Our individual personalities are a gift of His design so that we might add color and variety to the world. And He can use our unique combination of circumstances—even the painful ones like mental illness—for our good and His glory.”

“children need to live into the infinite possibilities of innovative ideas, symphonies of created music, breathtaking visual art, transcendent science, and thoughts of God that are too big to be contained by the walls of a church building.”

“Loving him with the love of God Affirming him daily, believing in who he will become Understanding his limitations and learning to be patient with his disability Never passing on guilt to him for being limited Changing his heart gradually through training in character and inner strength Holding expectations loosely and leaving him in the hands of God”

“You need to teach your lips how to be persuasive," I would say, "You have a profound way of thinking, but you will lose your audience if you attack them. How could you have said that with more appeal?”

“When children understand that their parents accept them whether they are behaviourally perfect or not, that they can trust the grown-ups with anything, then they will be more likely to seek their parents' help when they have engaged in more serious misbehaviour.”

“Trusting that God works all things together for the good despite the challenges we face is a gift of worship we give to God. Acceptance with humility must eventually come to each of us if we are to please God and not always fight against the limitations of our own family pattern. If Nathan had grown up in a home where he was constantly put down and corrected, I think the oxygen of God's love would have been strangled from his heart, which needed a wide berth of unconditional acceptance. Love is the food our hearts need to grow, and so I had to figure out a way to give it in a way he could feel.”

“Still, on a daily basis, I have to remember to release, to choose patience, to ask for forgiveness when I blow it. But now we have a rhythm to our family that is built on a foundation of unconditional love. Not matter what happens, at the end of the day, this is the place where we all return: "I am committed to loving you and accepting you as God has made you." "I will always be here for you." "I will always have your back and be a friend, whatever life holds." "I will help you search for answers and support your growth." "I will be a refuge you can come home to." "We are a family, and we will love each other always and always.”

“Knowing when to correct and train, when to overlook, and when to enjoy and praise is a constant balancing act for a parent, but I tried to err on the side of compassion and sympathy with Nathan. These seemed to be the tools that opened Nathan's heart to correction. And these gifts could only be given through personal time invested over and over again.”

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Book Keywords:

refuge, home, parenting-advice, parenting

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