140. The Story of a Caretaker (with Jess Ronne)

Guest Bio: Jess Ronne is an author, speaker, podcast host at Coffee with Caregivers, associate producer of the Unseen documentary, and caregiver advocate.  She is the founder and executive director of The Lucas Project, a non-profit dedicated to providing recognition, resources, and respite support for special needs families. She and her husband Ryan live in Michigan with their eight children, including their son Lucas who has profound disabilities. Her story of beauty from ashes has been shared on The Today Show, Daily Mail, and Huffington Post and is detailed in her memoir Sunlight Burning at Midnight. 

Show Summary: Jesus tells us that we will have struggles in our lives. What do we do while we’re facing those struggles? Jess Ronne is an example of someone who faces trouble with grit and determination. She did not give up in the face of many challenges and because of it she now has a non-profit that helps caregivers like her. During this conversation on God Hears Her, join Jess as she shares her story with hosts Elisa Morgan and Eryn Adkins.

Notes and Quotes: 

• “God and I have gone through a lot of wrestling together with anger.” –Jess Ronne

• “I’m a doer, and when I see a problem I say, ‘How are we going to fix this?’” –Jess Ronne

• “It’s an honor to do this work, but we all need breaks.” –Jess Ronne

• “I don’t want to be his forever caregiver, I want to be his mom.” –Jess Ronne

• “The child is only as healthy as the caregiver.” –Jess Ronne 

• “I don’t think grief ever really ends, it just looks different.” –Jess Ronne 

• “We weren’t necessarily made for this world, we were made for something better.” –Jess Ronne

Verses: 

• Job 33:12

Links: 

• The Lucas Project: https://thelucasproject.org/about/

• Jess’s Website: www.jessplusthemess.com

• God Hears Her website: https://www.godhearsher.org/

• God Hears Her newsletter sign-up: https://www.godhearsher.org/signup

• Subscribe on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/god-hears-her-podcast/id1511046507?utm_source=applemusic&utm_medium=godhearsher&utm_campaign=podcast

• Elisa’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elisamorganauthor/

• Eryn’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eryneddy/

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