{Review} The Life We Never Expected by Andrew & Rachel Wilson

The Life We Never Expected by Andrew and Rachel Wilson gives insight in to what it's like to be the parents of special needs children. They have three children and their two oldest have a regressive form of autism. 

The book is a very short read but full of wonderful insight - even for those without children with severe special needs or special needs at all. There are five "cycles" to the book. Each cycle includes a chapter on "weeping," "worshiping," "waiting," "witnessing," and "breathe."  

I would encourage you to read Andrew's explanation of what it is like to find out your child has special needs. You can read it on his blog. This is an excerpt from the book itself. 

When I began reading the book, in order to write this review, I wasn't expecting to take away much. I don't have children with special needs - at least not as severe as what the Wilson family experiences on a daily basis. While I do have a son on the autistic spectrum, most people who meet him would never know this. And if you don't know which son I'm talking about, I'm not going to share that here. That just proves the point I'm making.

However, I soon found myself grabbing a pen so I could start to underline all the fantastic quotes such as this one:

In God's global mission, the role of 

extraordinary people doing exceptional things

is probably far smaller than we imagine - 

and the role of ordinary people doing 

everyday things is certainly far greater

than we imagine. (pg. 48)

I highly recommend this book to anyone and especially to anyone who has a child with autism or other special needs. The Wilson's share a wonderful list of resources at the end of the book as well. 

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I enjoyed the book so much that I'm going to do a giveaway.  I will pick one random winner to receive a copy of The Life We Never Expected. Just leave a comment either here on the blog or on a Facebook post of this review. I will pick a winner next Friday, July 15th.

Fine Print:

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.