Our guest, Kara Ryska, shares the story of struggling with her son’s diagnosis, wrestling with God’s goodness, stuffing feelings, and grief. She share the importance of giving our kids space to be honest about the pain, how others can help our families, and what full inclusion looks like in our churches and communities.
July 19, 2022; Ep. 95
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If you enjoyed our podcast, please...
Our guest, Kara Ryska, shares the story of struggling with her son’s diagnosis, wrestling with God’s goodness, stuffing feelings, and grief. She share the importance of giving our kids space to be honest about the pain, how others can help our families, and what full inclusion looks like in our churches and communities.
July 19, 2022; Ep. 95
Timestamps & Key Topics:
Episode Links & Resources:
If you enjoyed our podcast, please...
Carrie M Holt 0:00
Welcome to Take Heart where our goal is to offer encouragement, give hope and insight, so you can flourish in your journey as a special needs mom. As we explore monthly themes, share inspiring stories and practical tips, our desire is to continue to serve you and your listeners. Would you mind sharing our podcast with a friend? You can learn more about us on our website at www.takeheartspecialmoms.com. There are links in the show notes at the bottom of this episode. Thank you for joining us today.
Hi there, welcome to episode 95 of Take Heart. This is Carrie M. Holt, and I'm so glad you're joining us today. We are continuing our summer interview series, and I had the privilege of interviewing our guest today, Kara Ryska. Kara is a life coach who helps moms of children with special needs regain control of their lives. We all need help with that right? Women come to her feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and anxious, and through their work together moms leave feeling at peace confident, and capable of navigating any circumstances that come their way. A little bit about Kara, in 2011, she and her husband Dan received life-altering news that their second-oldest child had a massive brain tumor. After major surgery and months of recovery, she now parents a child with multiple special needs, along with three other amazing children, ages 14 to four. Kara also hosts a weekly podcast that is entitled The Special Needs Mom Podcast. Through this podcast, she is creating a watering well, for moms who often feel alone and in desperate need of support and connection. You can find more about Kara at www.kararyska.com That's R Y S K A.com. We will have links in the show notes again at the bottom of this episode.
Welcome, Kara, thank you so much for being a guest on Take Heart today. Let's start off by having you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and your family.
Kara Ryska 3:10
So I am a mother of four I have three boys and a daughter, ages 14 to four, very close to 15 and five. I'm married to my college sweetheart, Dan. I think we've been married almost 18 years, actually, we were trying to do the math. It's something like 17 or 18 years. My second oldest son, who is about to turn 13, was diagnosed 10 years ago when he was two with craniopharyngioma, which is a brain tumor. We did an immediate surgery to basically remove his tumor. It resulted in a two-month stay in the hospital because it was a pretty impactful surgery. While we feel so fortunate to have had the surgeon that we did. He had to make some choices, he had to make some choices to keep some of the tumor or to take some of the brain. He made the choice to be a little bit more aggressive, and we are thankful that he did that. He has a number of resulting conditions, so he's partially blind. He's blind in one eye fully and limited in the other. He has a condition called panhypopituitarism which basically means he doesn't produce any of the hormones that you and I hopefully do. He has hemiplegia, so he's weaker. For some people that means they're fully paralyzed on one side. For him, he just has weaker irrispasticity and lower muscle tone on that left side. He's able to walk, and he's able to even run, but he has a very modified gait and very limited stamina. I think that covers it. I have to kind of do a little body scan to remember all the different things. Actually, the one thing I will add is that there are invisible disabilities on the behavioral side. One when a child has been through such significant trauma, there's a consequence of that. Additionally, just the behavioral side, some of the parts of his brain that were impacted, definitely relate to behavior. Our whole family has experienced what it's like to have somebody that has very different needs. It has required all of us to really grow and to be stretched and to be very much in process with what life looks like in a way that we feel like we were flourishing and living the lives that we want.
Carrie M Holt 5:59
So what are some of those things that your family does...Our podcast, did a month on siblings back in the spring, where we actually interviewed our other siblings in all of our families. It was very popular and very insightful. What are some things that your family does to flourish, when you're dealing with all of your second son's medical needs?
Kara Ryska 6:29
Well, I can't say that we exactly are flourishing yet, but we are always trying. One thing that I have specifically done is really tried to validate the sibling experience and try to give a lot of extra space to that. Actually, in even with attempting to do that, my oldest son has expressed that sometimes he feels overlooked, and sometimes he feels like his needs don't matter as much. I try to allow his experience to be 100% valid and not try to push it away or to compare it to his brothers. Because of course, his brother's experience is different than his. One could say, yeah, if you can compare the two, it's obvious which one you would choose. However, that doesn't make (we'll just use my oldest son) it doesn't make his experience any less valid or any less painful or any less traumatizing to him. We really just tried to give voice to that. I've also offered all of my kids access to therapy, and not required them to go, but make sure that one, I'm modeling going myself, and two, I'm valuing the concept of healing ourselves and mending trauma. That it's a normal and wonderful thing to do.
Carrie M Holt 7:56
Yeah, and I love how you said, validate the siblings' experiences because I think none of us do this perfectly. We're not flourishing on a daily basis. We have really good days and really bad days. I think when we're cognizant of that, that their pain is real and valid, and for us not to say, "Well, you're not going through cancer treatment."
Kara Ryska 8:18
Yes. Yeah, exactly.
Carrie M Holt 8:21
I think that's, that's really good for our other kids. You mentioned a little bit about your own journey with seeing a counselor and with medical trauma and recovery. Could you talk a little bit?
Kara Ryska 8:40
Yeah, I think I'll back up a little bit. I think what I'll also add is saying that 10 years ago, was our first encounter with cancer and then becoming a special needs mom. We knew that there was a possibility of recurrence with the type of tumor, so we have a scan every year. Unfortunately, last fall, this scan did show that we had a recurrence. Starting last fall, we've kind of...it's really interesting. It's been a very different experience now than it was when he was two. We've undergone two brain surgeries and now we're in process, actually in our last week of proton beam radiation. Kind of just mapping out what's happened with his health and then going back to my experience. I came into being a mom really blissfully unaware. My college experience was a really beautiful process of being spiritually formed, kind of really owning my relationship with God and having it be real to me and very meaningful. I feel like I had a wonderful foundation. I would say that the first experience of meeting something like brain cancer in a two-year-old, really tested my faith. I remember this couple of years after his experience because it takes quite a bit to recover. Actually, I'll add that I was pregnant with my third son at the time of my second oldest son's diagnosis. I was not only supporting a child through brain surgery and all the recovery, I was pregnant and having a baby. Needless to say, this was a very hard time. Of course, I'm sure many of the listeners will relate to the financial challenges that come with that. I was working full time. Actually, I was working part-time, however, we live in Southern California. We weren't working because I loved my job at the time. I was working because it was part of our financial stability. My whole core was shaken. I'd say what was also shaken is my ability to rely on myself. While I think ultimately, that was a good thing, it was not an easy thing. I think the years after, I really questioned God's goodness. How can a good God leave me out to dry here? Because that's kind of the experience I had. One of the things that really was a rock for me, is seeing the way that Christians and actually even non-Christian people showed up and served our family. They showed up and they gave, they brought meals. I felt so loved by many people. That for me, it was where I was like, okay, like, I'm not sure how good you are right now, God, but I do know that these people were very loving. That really was something that I just wrestled with it for many years. I think I had my own experience of just being very, very angry that this had happened to my son.
Kara Ryska 12:12
I think it's a real soft spot for us moms, to witness our children going through pain. I think that that's where the thing that really helped me when I was able to acknowledge that God never promised that we wouldn't hurt and suffer. His promise was that he would be with us. I think that subtle shift helped. I think ultimately, my questioning of God's goodness was questioning why he would let this thing happen, He couldn't be good if he did. You can see where that just it was leading me down to a lot of hopelessness, a lot of anger. Not to say that I shouldn't have or I wouldn't still want to experience some anger because I mean, it's a natural and wonderful feeling. I should say valuable feeling. I don't know if I would call it wonderful. I think it's part of the experience that God's given us the ability to have this wide spectrum of feelings. I think there's a reason for that. That was kind of the early phase of my experience and breaking down and sort of recovery. About five years ago, I was feeling stable enough to say, hey, I want to kind of do the next thing. I want to use this experience that I have had to help other people. I decided that for me, I would be becoming a life coach. It's so funny, when I look back now, I had no idea what I was thinking, signing up to be a life coach. I mean, I knew enough to know that it wasn't that I was gonna tell you what to do. That's not what life coaches actually do. I was, again, very blissfully unaware of what it would actually take to be able to be a life coach. Especially as I evolved to recognize the people that I really want to help the most. I didn't go into it thinking I was going to be a special needs mom life coach. I worked in a male-dominated industry. I'm gonna go coach in corporate. I'm gonna do all that. I loved being a working mom. Time and time again that I basically was called back to. No, this is the community that needs this the most, and you have a very unique ability to give it. During that five-year process, I started being trained as a coach, and I became a coach. It was kind of along with that that I feel like I was able to really discover parts of me that had been tucked away all of my life, for one reason or another, right? We all have things that we do when we grow up and just from our family of origin kind of stuff. I kind of really rediscovered me. It was actually a really beautiful time of restoring my faith and reckoning, and still in the process with that. There are still times when I think God, you feel very far away. So that was kind of the beginning of my journey. I'd say it was it's been this.
(15:46)
It's interesting, actually, right before my son got diagnosed this last fall, we were at the hospital for one of his routine MRIs. I noticed that my body was having a response to being in some of the hallways. There were certain sounds and certain lights, that really I noticed that my body was signaling, we are not safe here. I noticed that, and I thought, you know what, I think it's time to like to uncover this. I think it's time to address the trauma that has been, so I reached out to a therapist that was specifically trained in helping with trauma recovery. We were in process of scheduling. Interestingly enough, it was just a week or a few days later that I got the new diagnosis that he would have many more potential medical trauma experiences, he and I. It was interesting because I said to the new therapist that I'm meeting, "Okay, so, I was coming in for this old trauma, but I think we're going to have a lot more to work with." It's been lovely having that level of support, to rely on as part of my support structure during this season. In this season, I think has been an opening to learn how to grieve well. Of course, I think you have to as a mom, in shoes, like ours, you have to grieve. I think for me, it's a place that I would visit and kind of run away from as soon as I could. It wasn't a place I wanted to stay. The time I'm in my life right now is recognizing, okay, grief is actually something that can accompany us everywhere. We don't necessarily have to turn it on and off. It can coincide with all of our life. I'm still very much in the process with learning this, and I'm actually really excited to see what it opens, not just for me, because I think it's going to open a lot for me, in just really deepening my experience with feeling all of it. I'm also very excited to be able to at whatever point that I'm ready to be able to share that with the people that I work with.
Carrie M Holt 18:30
I know, I write and talk a lot about grief because I just remember, when my son was five, he had a week-long hospital stay that was really. We got out of the stay, and it was kind of like, we didn't really have a reason why he was in. It was just weird symptoms, and they couldn't figure it out. Of course, we go to an ENT appointment, then we walk out of that appointment with another surgery scheduled. He needs ear tubes. That's probably what it was. At the time, in my life, there were just all these other things going on. Our older two boys were finishing up school, my sister had a bridal shower or something, and we were traveling. All of a sudden, I'm yelling at a librarian because she had absolutely no grace over some books that our toddler daughter had ruined at the time. I just felt like God looked at me and said, "You are grieving. You have been holding this together for the last five years." I knew that grief kind of accompanies the beginning the diagnosis and that process, but I thought it was going to be this one-and-done thing. It is not. It's happening now, and my son is 15 and I'm watching all of his friends get their driver's permits. I hate to say this phrase, but it's almost like you said, you have to hold it and it can go with you. You almost have to make this friendship with grief. You know what I mean? It has to become, okay, this is a part of what I have to hold in my heart and not that you have to love it, but that it's okay to carry it. It's not an either/or, it's a both/and with your emotions. I love how you talked about that.
Kara Ryska 20:24
I think something that also helps me is. Very much the both/and, definitely. I think that actually was a very big pivotal point for me. It was around Thanksgiving season, I was at church, and of course, we're talking about gratitude. I thought I am not thankful for this. I was really having a hard time. It was actually the pastor that was really creating the conversation of the both/and. That you can both be devastated and angry, and all the things AND you can in other ways have gratitude and joy. It's so great to look back at that because now it seems so simple. At the time for me, it was life-changing. I think I was misinterpreting the conversation about gratitude, to think that I had to be thankful for my son's brain tumor. There's no part of me that will say I'm thankful for that. That's horrible. I'm visualizing an artist's palette, having all the different colors on it. We get to have the bright yellow and bright orange, and we also get to have like, the colors that ran together. It's kind of like an ugly brown color, maybe not the most desirable color. Yet, all of that together can be really, it can be used to paint something truly beautiful. Right? So our life can still be beautiful. It is beautiful because it has all the spectrum in there. I think this was helpful for me to understand the picture of you stuffing down and surviving to that point where you were yelling at the librarian. That was your survival, you were stuffing down the emotions, which is a coping strategy. That is part of what we do. Sometimes we get stuck there, and we keep stuffing and we keep stuffing, which is very effective to stuff the hard that we don't want to feel. But the unfortunate byproduct is it also stuffs the happy. It stuffs the joy, it stuffs the feeling of aliveness. What happens? I think all the time to special needs moms is that we don't know who we are anymore. We don't even know how to like the idea of feeling happy. It's almost like, I'll just settle for not feeling horrible. I don't want to sound like oh yeah, feeling happy is the goal in life, and that's all we need to work on. However, I think feeling happy is a wonderful thing because people that are happy, go out and do wonderful things in the world. I don't think it's the goal of life, but I think it's certainly something that all moms should seek and work towards.
Carrie M Holt 23:26
Right. Definitely. I think like you said, when you stuffed down the hard, you're also stuffing that good, too. I feel like we have to bless our coping mechanisms. I think sometimes we look back on how we coped and survived in situations, and we feel a lot of contempt for ourselves or for how we handled things. We have to understand and know that God designed our bodies to be able to have fight or flight, to be able to have the adrenaline, to be able to have the stuffing. If I felt the feelings that I really wanted to feel in the middle of medical trauma, I could not function or make decisions, sometimes life-saving decisions for my child. Now that he's old enough and cognizant enough to pick up on my moods, he can read my face like a book. I don't want to vicariously give him my own trauma either. So you have to put on the face a little bit because he's dealing with his own grief and his own trauma and processing his own feelings especially being a teenager and things like that. I want to encourage our listeners to remember to bless those times also because they were how you survived those moments.
Kara Ryska 24:57
I think that's such a good point. I'm so glad that you put that in there. I definitely think that as we start to learn about coping mechanisms and things we do, we start to kind of turn on them and think it's a bad thing that we need to get rid of. I think that just like you said, it's a wonderful gift that we, fortunately, have been able to use quite a bit as special needs moms. I think we get very good at it. I do think it does take some intention to step out of the safety of those coping mechanisms, right. I think that's where in seasons, where we're not in the kind of the higher stress seasons is the opportunity to kind of recognize, okay. I want to have a different experience. And while this is a gift. I love having this gift. I want to also explore what else is out there for me if I'm not in this state of survival and just coping.
Carrie M Holt 25:59
What are some strategies that you have discovered on your journey of helping him walk through this experience?
Kara Ryska 26:11
It's interesting, that you asked that because actually think it really relates to what we were just speaking about. I think that my inability to actually allow all the emotions, specifically, I have a hard time with sadness. As you said, kids are so clever at picking up on what their parents probably, especially moms, are feeling on the inside. We can have a smile on the outside, but they're very fine-tuned to pick up the other vibrations that are happening. Because where I was starting out, he's picked up that oh, Mommy doesn't like it when I'm sad, so what I'll do is I'll just kind of be happy all the time. What I have done to help him is help myself first. This is where when we talk about putting the oxygen mask on. It's okay, I go to therapy first. I say I'm so sorry, I have to go on a walk right now. Sorry, we can't do that right now because I actually have some needs, I need to tend to. It's actually allowing myself to say no to my children, and to say yes to myself,
Carrie M Holt 27:40
That goes so against our grain, right?
Kara Ryska 27:43
Yes, it is. I still have to work through the narrative. For instance, I want to a couple of weeks ago, a friend had a book launch, and she was having a retreat. The narrative that is automatic in my head is that you should not leave your children. It's Saturday, you already left them for work. You should not. It's just automatic. The work I have learned to do is really question that, to say I don't know that that actually is true. Of course, I want my children not to feel abandoned and neglected. There's many other things besides staying with them 24/7 that will have them know that I'm absolutely there for them. So, taking care of myself and tending to my own needs, I say is first. I just have to say is when I have not done that, I literally cannot hear and tend to my children. I've had some van trouble lately, and it's just not been good timing. That day that I had van trouble. What I noticed was my children were talking to me, and I literally had to say "what?" several times. Because I was so emotionally escalated from the stress of the van, I actually wasn't available to listen to my children. I have learned to notice these things because of what I do. It's a practice and you learn to pay attention to these little things. In that case, what I really allowed myself was to be there. I just allowed myself to ask, "I'm sorry, I did not hear what you say. I wasn't paying attention." To ask my children, so that I could be more present with them. Not all of our days are we going to get this perfect. So that day, fortunately, it has passed. Also really working with therapists with my child to help him recover from the trauma. I want to honor his privacy and not share too much or more than that. However, I would say that my being open to this work has led to me being open to supporting him in this work, of recovery, of questioning, of wondering what God's plan is with all of this. I think being willing to kind of not know, and to kind of just be in the grief. "Honey, I don't know why God let this happen, and it sucks." We don't have to say at this time that it's good. Because I think sometimes I've actually had the experience where, for me, when I was going through some of the more extreme times of just struggling. There was actually a specific memory where I would walk into church, and there was a very enthusiastic greeter. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was, "Today is good, because God is good," or it was something like that. The experience that I had is it didn't leave room to say, "You know what, today doesn't feel good." So for me, I think giving our children the ability to say this really sucked, and it's hard, and I don't like it, and I don't yet see the good in it, and just letting it be without having to fix it. I'm still working on not having to fix it part. Because I desperately want to make you feel better. You're my baby, I'm gonna figure out a way to make you happy. I'm laughing about that, but it's not too far from actually how it feels on the inside when my children are not happy. I'm working on just allowing it to be without having to do anything. That's what comes to mind.
Kara Ryska 32:16
I'll add this as well. I think, even recently, I'm also learning about giving language to the value of humans, just because they're human without having to attach value to their productiveness in society. I think that it's interesting because I've just noticed it for myself. I happened to be a type-three Enneagram. What that means is like, I like to do stuff, I like to get stuff done, and I like to move forward. That's where my brain feels most alive. For some of our kids, they might not be writing books, inventing widgets, or going to college. When you attach somebody's value to what they do, or what they accomplish, it really can turn you upside down when you have a child that doesn't fit into that model. For me it's been very valuable to recognize( and this is not just for my child, this is actually for all humans) is recognizing, like the value that we have is just because we're human. We were created as these valuable beings. We didn't do anything, and we can't do anything to make ourselves more valuable. It's the essence of who we are. That has really helped just kind of opened a new way of looking at things especially because it helps me realize we don't have to go anywhere. There's no destination to get to. Especially during the season where we're pretty much not going anywhere. It's really helped me to be okay, in the moments where we're kind of just existing. That was something where it was really difficult for me, really had an attachment to having to work and be productive.
Carrie M Holt 34:21
I love how you said that. I think we get so focused on getting through something, the other side, the goal of getting through so we can really live life. One of my favorite quotes by C.S. Lewis is he says something to the effect of, you're just waiting to live your real life, when your real life is all the bad things that happen to you every day. That is real life. Instead of just waiting to live when you're on the other side of it, how about we learn how to live well in it?
Kara Ryska 35:08
I actually, I'm so glad that you put that in there as well. I have something similar to C.S. Lewis, and it was actually from my cousin's blog when he was biking through Central America. He said, "This is your life, you're living it now." It's so simple. I very much relate to the person that's just getting through something. When we are done with this, then we will feel better. As we know, as mothers with very complex children, I'm pretty sure that place doesn't exist. There's not this destination, where all of a sudden, my son's brain is healed? I think that it's time to recognize like, this is our life.
Carrie M Holt 35:54
So earlier, you mentioned just a little bit how, in your faith journey, the community that came around became kind of an example to you of God's goodness. I know, we do have some listeners who are grandparents and family members. Do you have any words of just advice or encouragement?
Kara Ryska 36:16
Yeah, I'm gonna speak to two different people groups. First, the parents, the moms, and maybe dads of special needs kids. One of the things that I hear the most is how alone and isolated people feel. Of course, I can relate to that and totally understand that. I want to say that I think that there's a gift for us a special needs parents, as we learn to share our stories. I think a lot of times we expect or hope or think that people should come over and reach their hand all the way over to us to know. I actually think it's a call to be personally responsible that people don't know how to help you. They have no idea what you're going through. I think most of us on this side, we can recognize it. I would have no idea if I wasn't in these shoes. Expecting our friends or family to have any sort of idea on how to connect with us, maybe that's not serving us. I think learning to share our stories and tell our stories is really valuable, both for us in having a voice, but also in sharing. Stories are connecting, right? That's how we learn. People won't relate to the situation, your child does not have a brain tumor. However, you share a little bit of your story, and all of a sudden we feel connected because we saw some things that are similar, or at least we feel like we understand a little bit about each other's lives. That's kind of what I would say about creating community as special needs moms specifically. On the other side of that, I think for people that aren't necessarily the primary caretaker, but people that love parents and children with special needs, I would say. "Be specific in questions that you ask." I think there's something very special for me when someone really wants to know about the medical journey of my son because a lot of times we experience very superficial questions. I don't mean that they don't care. I just mean that. It's like, "oh, hey, how's it going?" That's a very hard question to answer after you've had a two-month hospital stay. Be very specific and be very intentional about listening. I would say, additionally, when you say, "I would love to help you." Go a little further and say," I would love to help you. Can I bring you food on Tuesday, or can I hire somebody to come clean your house, or can I come to clean your house?" Being specific allows... Consider that if the only job of that person that you're wanting to support and be community to is that they say yes, then you've done a good job. You've done a great job at being specific. I guess that's what I would have to say and where I would start.
Kara Ryska 39:19
I guess I'll add one last thing is recognizing that our society has not yet recognized what some people need to be fully included. When we look at churches, I think what we can see is that a lot of people don't have access to churches. Even something as simple as adult changing tables or changing tables for larger kids. If a parent doesn't have that, or a caretaker doesn't have that for their child, then they're not able to access church in a way that actually provides dignity to that child and that parent. Just something simple like that. I am still in the process with figuring this out. My son is very able, in many ways, but because of his medical background and behavior, he is not somebody that we can just send to junior high camp like I can with my oldest son, or even my fourth grader. Send him on his way and say some prayers and fix his chapped lips when they come home. But for my middle son to be able to go to camp, my husband has to go. There's actually a financial impact to that, that we're actually paying for two people to go to camp, potentially taking time off work. I don't know the answers yet. I would say that not expecting the special needs parents to carry the full burden of having the challenge and fixing the challenge. Because our hands are pretty full. Of course, there's some of us that decide we want to start campaigns and foundations and all the crazy things we do, but some of us don't have the energy for that all the time. I would say, ask good questions. If you are wondering where these people are, they're probably at home, because church is not accessible to them.
Carrie M Holt 41:22
Right? That's so good, and you're so right. I mean, a lot of times, we're the ones that might be expected to serve in the special needs ministry at church. At this point in my life, I have no compassion, I have compassion fatigue. I have no depth or margin to serve or to do that. I love how you shed light on when we're holding the burden, we shouldn't be expected to also solve the challenges that are coming along with it, or at least to be the only ones expected to fix the challenge.
Kara Ryska 41:57
It's a partnership, right? Back to you're saying it's not either/or it's really a both/and yes. I think when you look at like the most functional communities, is everybody bringing their gifting, and our gifting might be receiving. Recognizing that that actually is a gift to community. I can't remember who it was right now, but somebody had brought us a meal or did something very kind for us recently. I said, "thank you," and she said, "Well, thank you for..."She said it in a very kind way that came across so beautifully. "Thank you for letting us help you." But it was said a little bit differently. "Oh, okay, well, you're welcome." The way she actually was being about it was actually like that I was a gift to her. That was a really beautiful thing too. It can be very difficult to be in a long, and prolonged experience of receiving. I've been there recently, both in asking for funds, fundraising, meals and rides, and all the things. It can be quite exhausting.
Carrie M Holt 43:14
In closing, we do try to ask all of our guests this question, if you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Kara Ryska 43:23
What comes up is like learning to feel sad, learning to feel the grief and allow it to be. You don't have to be strong the whole way through. Yeah, you do have to kind of army up a little bit to get through some of the hard seasons. Do whatever it takes to give yourself some space to emotionally, and spiritually recover. I think that's the thing that the soonest that you can have access to that part, I think the better because I think that we cannot white knuckle it through through this kind of life. I think that would be the most salve for the soul that you could give yourself.
Carrie M Holt 44:16
That's great. Well, thank you for being our guest, Kara. I think you shared so much wisdom today with our listeners, and are so grateful that you were here today.
Kara Ryska 44:27
Thank you so much for having me. My pleasure.
Carrie M Holt 44:48
Thank you for joining us this week on Take Heart our prayer each week is for your heart to be encouraged. We are grateful you are walking on the journey with us. Be sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter and follow us on Instagram or Facebook @takeheartspecialmoms. If you have any questions or comments, follow the links in our show notes. We love hearing from our listeners. Tune in next week as we hear from our final guest on our summer interview series.