Larah Roberts, a dedicated mom, wife, and Christ-centered disability advocate, joins Stephanie Daniels to talk about raising children with autism as thriving followers of Jesus. Larah shares from her own family’s experience and her wisdom as the founder of the organization Raising Autistic Disciples. Don’t miss Larah’s heartfelt encouragement for individuals, churches, and communities to fully include, support, and disciple families navigating life with disability.
Larah Roberts, a dedicated mom, wife, and Christ-centered disability advocate, joins Stephanie Daniels to talk about raising children with autism as thriving followers of Jesus. Larah shares from her own family’s experience and her wisdom as the founder of the organization Raising Autistic Disciples. Don’t miss Larah’s heartfelt encouragement for individuals, churches, and communities to fully include, support, and disciple families navigating life with disability.
Explore free Joni and Friends resources that will empower you and your church love and serve individuals and families living with disability.
Learn more about Larah Roberts and Raising Autistic Disciples
Get your copy of Larah’s book, How to Advocate & Stay Christian: For Parents of Special Kids
KEY QUESTIONS:
KEY SCRIPTURES:
Stephanie Daniels:
Hi friends! I’m your host, Stephanie Daniels, and you’re listening to the Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast. We’re sharing hope as we answer real questions about disability. Join us every week for an honest and encouraging conversation, along with practical ways to include people with disability in your church and community. So, grab a seat, and let’s jump in!
Today's conversation is one that I believe will encourage your heart. I'm joined by Larah Roberts, a wife and mom of three. She works in the disability community at Key Ministry, and she's the creator of Raising Autistic Disciples. Larah is passionate about helping families like hers not only survive, but thrive in the love and grace of Jesus.
Today we're discussing autism, discipleship, church inclusion, and what it means to follow Jesus together as a family. Whether you're walking a similar path or just want to better understand how to support families living with disabilities, you'll find encouragement and challenge in Larah's words today.
Welcome to the podcast, Larah.
Larah Roberts:
Stephanie, thank you for having me. And sister, that was the best intro I've ever received. Thank you for that.
Stephanie Daniels:
Okay!
Larah Roberts:
So, I feel pumped and like let's just do this.
Stephanie Daniels:
Okay. Well, you are welcome. We are so excited to have you join us today. Can you share a bit about your family story and how your journey with autism began?
Larah Roberts:
Absolutely. Stephanie, I placed my faith in Christ when I was six years old. Ever since then, as we know, the Gospel changes everything. I have grown to love and know God through the impact of many, many mentors and brothers and sisters in the church, and grew up with faithful men and women pouring into me.
I met my husband in college. His name is Collin, my best friend. And celebrated 17 years of marriage in May. And so, it's been so much fun to parent these three kiddos that God's blessed us with. Graham is our middle son. We have an older daughter, her name is Addie in middle school. And then our youngest is Levi. But Graham is our autistic image bearer. And received his autism diagnosis a little over five years ago.
It's been an adventure, a journey, there's so many different dynamics to being a parent and receiving a diagnosis. And we didn't have anybody in our circle with a disability. Honestly, I don't even know looking back, if the word autism, I really even understood what it was five or six years ago.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
Collin and I both are entrepreneurs at heart, so we've owned our own businesses and led in the church in different ministry capacities. And so, we are not shy about researching and things that we don't know. And that's what we did is...
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
...we have no idea what this diagnosis for our kid is about, so we started digging in and learning. Now that I understand and I get to talk with parents, I'm glad I'm not alone in this. And that is that when you get a diagnosis for your child, these fear questions start to rise in your mind and heart. Especially the one about, "What happens when we're gone?" Or, "Will he ever be potty trained? Will he ever be able to communicate? Will he go to high school?" All these fear questions...
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
...started to rise up in our hearts. And I remember it like it was yesterday. We were talking on the back deck and all of a sudden it was like both of us at the same time said, "Wait a second. We have given our lives to the Gospel of Christ. We serve in ministry, we're on staff at church. Will Graham ever know and love God? Will he be able to know him like we do? Can he know him?"
So, those questions rose to the surface above all the other fear questions because, like I said in the beginning, we grew up in church. We placed our faith in Christ when we were younger. And to think that now we have a diagnosis of our kid that we don't really understand, but yet we know what the scripture says.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
And we know that the Gospel is for all people. And so, we just went on this journey of figuring out, "How can we raise an autistic disciple?" That brings us to today and let me just tell you, looking back, God is so faithful.
Stephanie Daniels:
Oh, he is so faithful, and I'm excited to dig more into this journey. But before we go much further, I mentioned in the intro that you work for Key Ministries. Can you explain a bit about the ministry that you're involved in?
Larah Roberts:
Absolutely. I would love to. I am a part of the Key Ministry team. Key is an organization that specifically exists to encourage, equip, and empower churches to welcome individuals and families impacted by disability, mental health, and trauma. We do that by offering conferences. The largest disability conference in the nation, Disability and the Church. As well as, Mental Health and the Church conference. We also coach and train churches on how to make their ministries more accessible to families impacted by disability, mental health, and trauma.
It has been a joy to serve on this team as the Director of Operations. We had our conference back in April, and to be in the room with 600 plus church leaders, which are pastors, volunteers, ministry leaders, even parents to be in the same room with people who have a heart and a passion to serve families like mine, it was completely overwhelming. So Key is just excited to partner with churches and ministry leaders to help equip them on how to make our churches accessible to families like mine. It's just, it's a joy to be a part of.
Stephanie Daniels:
I love that. It's similar to what we do here at Joni and Friends.
Larah Roberts:
Yeah.
Stephanie Daniels:
Including them in the church to find their place in the body of Christ. It's so important.
Larah Roberts:
That's right.
Stephanie Daniels:
And I love that we are joined in our mission...
Larah Roberts:
We are, yeah.
Stephanie Daniels:
...to include people. Thank you for sharing that.
Okay. I wanna jump back to your story and your family. So, you get this diagnosis and I love that you guys are asking these deep questions. "Can Graham know Jesus? Will he know Jesus?" And so, I'm seeing you there in this place. How has your faith in Christ shaped the way that you parent and advocate for your children, especially Graham?
Larah Roberts:
Absolutely. What a question. The Gospel changes everything, right? So, as I've grown into adulthood to know and love him more, as I've searched the Scriptures and become a student of the Bible, I have realized so much about how God's word, and what Jesus did for us through his life, death, and resurrection, it gives us perspective for everything, Stephanie.
Even though we were colliding with a diagnosis we didn't understand, our hope was in Christ. And I, I'm just telling you, if it had not have been, I would've crumbled...
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
...under the weight, and under the confusion, under the fear. If it had not been for the hope of the Gospel and God's word, it would've been a different, I would've had a different perspective. Let's just say this, because here's what I've come to understand as a follower of Christ in the disability community, navigating Graham's autism diagnosis, it's this. I've grown to learn that no matter what happens today, tomorrow, or even 30 years from now, nothing eternal or essential will have changed.
That day that we got that diagnosis, and the fear questions rise, I had to remind myself, wait a second, no matter what happens today, which is a diagnosis, something could happen tomorrow or 30 years from now, but no matter what, nothing eternal, which is God, God is still God. He will always be God.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
It will not change. And nothing essential, because I placed my faith in Christs when I was six years old, that sealed my salvation for eternity. Therefore, that will never change.
Stephanie Daniels:
Amen.
Larah Roberts:
The hymn, I love, one of my favorite, “Because he lives I can face tomorrow.” Right? Because nothing that happens today, tomorrow, 30 years from now, nothing eternal or essential will have changed. So, to answer your question, like, had the hope of the Gospel and God's word not been our refuge and our strength during that time. I mean, we would've crumbled. So yes, absolutely impacted the way that we parent and advocate for Graham and our, our kids as well.
Stephanie Daniels:
I'm so encouraged by that. And as you were sharing, I just have goosebumps. I'm so thankful that nothing shakes God.
Larah Roberts:
Mm, amen.
Stephanie Daniels:
Nothing like you said, nothing changes. If we get a diagnosis, if we feel like we're walking through the fire, if something surprises us, it's not a surprise to him. He just beautifully walks us through those things and allows us to be shaped. He shapes us as...
Larah Roberts:
That's right.
Stephanie Daniels:
...we walk through those things. And I love something that you shared, and I don't know if I saw this on your Instagram or if you shared it with me when we first spoke. Some of your friends that were missionaries. And you saw them diving in to learn a culture...
Larah Roberts:
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Daniels:
...so that they could minister to the people they were called to.
Larah Roberts:
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Daniels:
And how that inspired you. Do you wanna share...
Larah Roberts:
Yes.
Stephanie Daniels:
...just a little bit about that?
Larah Roberts:
Oh, I would love to ever since I was young, just had a heart for just missions in general. Our church is very globally minded as far as sending folks to the field as well as supporting those that are at home or international.
So, saw some of our close friends in the process before they were sent to the, the field. Learning the culture, learning the language, learning anything and everything about the unreached people group that they were being sent to serve. And I get emotional, I can feel the knot in my throat. Watching them do whatever it took to learn about these people so that they could then speak the Gospel, translate the Gospel, show the Gospel so that they could reach one more person...
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm-hmm.
Larah Roberts:
...in that unreached people group. And it got me thinking, and this was three or so years ago, we were in the thick of learning autism, watching them on this endeavor. You know, it's not much different for us parents raising autistic kids. I will do whatever it takes. I will learn how he learns. I will communicate how he communicates.
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow.
Larah Roberts:
I will do whatever it takes for my boy to know that God loves him and that the Gospel is for him.
So therefore, what I learned outta that is I'll do exactly like my missionary friends are doing by learning the culture and the language and anything and everything so that the Gospel may go out to this unreached people group. The same is true for the disciples that I'm raising in my home, right?
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm-hmm.
Larah Roberts:
And so, we're sending missionaries to the field and they're having barriers of culture or language. We have the same barriers when it comes to raising neurodiverse kids, is because they don't think like we do, Stephanie.
Stephanie Daniels:
Right.
Larah Roberts:
They don't navigate the world like we do. The world is built for neurotypical people.
Stephanie Daniels:
Right.
Larah Roberts:
So therefore, I have to help him overcome those barriers and especially when some things are, in his mind are, not able to process how I process. So that was really how that thought or the Holy Spirit helping us see how to navigate this endeavor.
Stephanie Daniels:
Sure. And I think too, as you're explaining that, I can only imagine that there's got to be some frustration that comes when you are trying to learn a new language or...
Larah Roberts:
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Daniels:
...you know, understand a culture, understand a different way of thinking. When you have experienced those times, I'm just wondering, were there moments when you questioned your calling or felt spiritually discouraged? And if so, how did God meet you in those times?
Larah Roberts:
Well, we could talk about that for days. I know I'm not alone in this because moms and dads tell me all the time over Instagram, "You know, why did he choose me? Like, why, why do you give me autistic? Like, I'm not prepared for this. I'm not, you know, all this, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not." But God and his kindness has equipped me for every step. He has either put the body of Christ around me.
I mean, I remember when we got the diagnosis, I started meeting people out of nowhere. I mean, my best friend, special education teacher. I have another friend that came outta nowhere that's an OT. He would just drop people. And it was his plan. It wasn't outta nowhere, but it was him equipping us through people, but also just encouraging us through God's word.
I'll say, I don't know if I ever questioned, particularly in my calling. I will tell you, Stephanie, there has been a season of grief in this whole process.
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm, yeah.
Larah Roberts:
Specifically, when it comes to, you get a diagnosis of a child and you start to understand, okay, my capacity is limited. I can't juggle all the things that I used to. And there's some grief there. And I've talked to many moms and dads about it. And mine looked like this. I love the Bible. I love God's word. I love teaching the Bible. It's one of my passions.
For years I was teaching women's Bible study at my church and loved it. Loved studying God's word. And through some things, one, our church not being able to accommodate Graham on a weeknight that we had women's Bible study. And the capacity at the time of something's gotta give, my husband's on church staff. And so, we were pulled in that direction and I had to pass the baton of teaching women's Bible study two years ago.
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm.
Larah Roberts:
And I'm not gonna lie, it hurt.
Stephanie Daniels:
That's hard. That's so hard.
Larah Roberts:
Yeah. I grieve that because I was having to give up something I loved.
Stephanie Daniels:
Right.
Larah Roberts:
Because of capacity and because of other outside things happening. But let me tell you, God met me, and he is a redeeming God. The whole, he gives and takes away, what Scripture tells us, it's so true.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
But my heart will choose to say, blessed be your name. What I'm about to tell you wasn't overnight, but in time he taught me my ministry wasn't over. And that's how Instagram started. That's how...
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow.
Larah Roberts:
...that's how I lead an autism moms online Bible study with women who can't go to church and attend Bible study just like me. He replaced something that I had to give up...
Stephanie Daniels:
Come on.
Larah Roberts:
...for the right reasons.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
He replaced it. He turned our morning into rejoicing with things that we never thought would happen. And Stephanie, it's better.
Stephanie Daniels:
It's better!
Larah Roberts:
It's better.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes. He's so kind and so good in that way. It's hard in the season of having to lay something down.
Larah Roberts:
Yeah.
Stephanie Daniels:
But he redeems. Ugh.
Larah Roberts:
Yeah. Your ministry isn't over just because you got an autism diagnosis of a kid. Yeah.
Stephanie Daniels:
Come on. That's so good.
Larah Roberts:
Yeah.
Stephanie Daniels:
Well, when we first spoke you mentioned the Great Commission, to make disciples of the nations. And that commission was given to the church and the followers of Jesus. But I often hear about this and when my husband talks about it, he always has discipleship starts at home 'cause he says your family is the closest thing to you.
The Bible tells us in Proverbs 22:6 to raise up a child in the way they should go. And you also mentioned understanding how the Gospel "meets the mind that's wired differently." I love that.
Larah Roberts:
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Daniels:
So, what does raising autistic disciples mean to you?
Larah Roberts:
Ooo yeah, absolutely. Okay. I'm gonna start off with one that's a little bit heavy, but it's so essential for us parents raising autistic disciples to understand, and that is we are not God.
Lemme take a timeout and talk about this Instagram thing just for a second, Stephanie. It's wild out there on the internet, but I know God has me there for a reason and I'm able to encourage, and people are able to encourage me. But it is a good tool to use for let's just say data purposes.
Stephanie Daniels:
Sure.
Larah Roberts:
Or to understand where people are coming from when they face hardship, suffering, all that kind of thing. And one thing that I'm seeing happen, and this goes along with your question about, what does raising autistic disciples mean to me, is that I have had conversations with parents who have said this to me, "I just don't believe they can know God."
Stephanie Daniels:
Mmm.
Larah Roberts:
And it saddens my heart, but here's where I lovingly, and as graciously as I can, offer this: “How do you know?” Just simply, “how do you know?” Like, "Oh I know because they don't have a verbal, or a facial, or body language doesn't tell me that they know."
Okay. Still, I'm gonna keep on asking, “how do you know?” Because we are not the creator of their mind.
Stephanie Daniels:
Right.
Larah Roberts:
And I understand there's so many dynamics at play. But what we have to understand is, we are not God. We don't know the heart of what's going on. Here's all God has told us we are responsible for as parents, Gospel proclamation and Gospel saturation. Meaning you proclaim the Gospel of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection to them, because we know Scripture says faith comes by hearing and hearing from the word of God.
So, we proclaim the Gospel and then we saturate the Gospel. That means it's not just a one-time endeavor; it's over and over again in our homes. So, when I say raising autistic disciples, I am taking the posture of helping parents, and as I help parents, I'm teaching myself, sister, um, understand we are not God. All we are required to do is proclamation and saturation, and God does Gospel transformation. That's all we're required to do. And that's freeing, right? Praise be to God.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
That's all he requires us to do.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
And that he does the rest.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah. You just plant the seeds. And he is responsible for the growth.
Larah Roberts:
That's right.
Stephanie Daniels:
That is so good.
So, Larah, how do you approach teaching scripture or modeling spiritual habits with your children in ways that are accessible and meaningful? And are they different for Addie and Levi than they are for Graham? How, how does that work?
Larah Roberts:
I love that question Stephanie. Yes, it is different as far as methods.
Stephanie Daniels:
Okay.
Larah Roberts:
My friend Charla, for Overcomer Ministry she's an occupational therapist. And she has taught me a lot about universal design. Meaning what works for our autistic kids is gonna work for our neurotypical kids.
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm-hmm.
Larah Roberts:
Because it's universal design. It's across the board. So honestly, it has been great. The strategies that we've learned. Like a visual schedule, for instance, has helped our whole entire family. We actually thrive on it. Rhythms and routine. That, that's my answer to any question that's, "How do you do this?" Rhythms and routines. I've seen Levi, our neurotypical 6-year-old thrive on it. Because he knows what's expected of him.
So that's what I'm saying, like it is yes, as far as the method and how we teach Graham certain things are different. But no, in terms of, it works for the whole family. And so, diving into rhythms and routines, that's like your tool in your tool belt as far as helping navigate just life in general for an autistic kid. But it works for our benefit for spiritual rhythms as well.
Let's just do this, Stephanie. I'll put you on the spot if you don't mind.
Stephanie Daniels:
Uh oh. Haha!
Larah Roberts:
Lemme ask you a question.
Stephanie Daniels:
Okay.
Larah Roberts:
Lemme ask you a question. Okay. What is something ordinary you do every single day?
Stephanie Daniels:
Make my coffee in the morning.
Larah Roberts:
There you go. So, make your coffee in the morning. Putting on shoes. Brushing your teeth. Getting in the car. Ordinary routines. What can making your coffee remind you about God?
Stephanie Daniels:
Oh, that he satisfies.
Larah Roberts:
That's right he does. That's right he does. Thank you, God, for waking me up. So that's what I'm saying, like helping parents understand raising autistic disciples, is take ordinary routines.
Stephanie Daniels:
Okay.
Larah Roberts:
Take ordinary rhythms and apply Scripture or apply Gospel truths to them. So, ours is, um, because our other two are involved in like sports and different activities and whatnot, we spend a lot of time in the car.
Stephanie Daniels:
Uh huh.
Larah Roberts:
You know, we spend a lot of time going and running errands and things like that. And so, I just thought one day, this was before Easter, because I wanted Graham to understand what is Easter, what is the Gospel? And visuals are very big in our house, like icons and things like that to help. And so, I printed out icons that represent the Gospel.
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow.
Larah Roberts:
God reigns. Okay. Lemme see if I can do it on the spot. God reigns, God provided, Jesus gives, we respond. I'm missing one and they're, anyway, but it's, I put 'em up in the ceiling of our van.
It is like a crown and then it's a cross, and then it's a gift, a raised hand. And it just goes through the entire Gospel presentation, I guess you could say, in a way that Graham can understand it. And if you niche down another rhythm is, you gotta leave your driveway. Right?
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
So that tells the autistic mind, of what I've learned about him, is that before mommy moves the van, we've got to say the Gospel. So not only do we have a rhythm of, we go places. That's a normal rhythm.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
It's a normal set, okay before we can do this, we've got to do this. Because in an autistic person, expectations and rhythms are very big. I do this, then I do this, then I do this. So, we do the "First, then." Method with Graham a lot. Okay. First, we pick up our toys, then we go outside. So, first and then.
So, if you pair that with routines and rhythms, he knows, when we get in the car to go to the grocery store, before we move the car, we've gotta say the Gospel.
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm-hmm.
Larah Roberts:
So, you're interrupting normal rhythms and routines and implanting Gospel truth rhythms. It's second nature now. We can't go out of the car without saying the Gospel. It's a wonderful reminder for us adults too. We get so busy that we don't remind ourselves of what Christ did for us. Right?
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
And so, we're learning how he learns best and then implementing strategies with Gospel truths into his daily routine.
Stephanie Daniels:
I love that. That is a practical tip that anyone can implement into their regular rhythm and routine.
Larah Roberts:
Right.
Stephanie Daniels:
And it doesn't have to be hard. It can be easy. And...
Larah Roberts:
That's right.
Stephanie Daniels:
...you can ask the Lord to show you, give you creativity for how you can introduce that.
Larah Roberts:
And Stephanie, let me add one more thing. For parents listening that are raising autistic disciples or Neurodiverse. God does not leave us alone in how to raise autistic kids.
I was teaching on this at a, a conference a few months ago, and dove into Deuteronomy six.
He gives us what to do. Like it's literally right here, let me read it. "The Lord our God. The Lord is one. The love, the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. These words I'm giving to you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children."
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
"Talk about them when you sit. When you're in the house, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, when you get up, buy them on your, as a sign on your hand, and let them be a symbol on your forehead, write them on the doorpost of your house, in your city gates." He doesn't leave us alone to tell us how to do this.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
He literally gives his word. Does it say autism? No. But it is a map.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes.
Larah Roberts:
It's, it's a. Scripture is alive and active even today, Hebrew says. And so literally, God is helping us raise autistic disciples by just visuals routines, rhythms. His Word is so good and so alive and active.
Stephanie Daniels:
I love that you shared that. I was listening to a podcast even this morning, and they talked about that exact thing, how practical the word is, you know?
Larah Roberts:
That's right.
Stephanie Daniels:
They were talking about mental health, how we're supposed to take every thought captive. If it's something that cuts you down, get rid of it.
Larah Roberts:
That's right.
Stephanie Daniels:
And it's just so practical. The Bible really is there to instruct us on...
Larah Roberts:
That's right.
Stephanie Daniels:
...how to do things. It's so cool that we aren't in this alone doing it by ourselves. God has given us a manual. I love that.
Larah Roberts:
Quick story, Stephanie. The role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, you have to do a deep dive after getting a Kid's Autism Act. 'cause you cannot do it without the Holy Spirit. Yeah. Because again, we don't know what he's thinking. Right?
Stephanie Daniels:
Right.
Larah Roberts:
And so, there was a season and time where Graham, like overnight, this was not something that was gradual. It was overnight. He became angry. He's usually a jovial kid. I mean, we have our moments. But I'm talking like anger kind of thing. And we just thought, where's this coming from? Again, overnight? Began to pray, Holy Spirit, you're gonna just show us. We have no idea what's happening.
Our Levi, who's two years younger than Graham, he's Graham's interpreter and he's also, you know, a little bit accountability partner. We call him because Graham was what we call scripting. He was taking a, script of something he was watching and then applying it to real life. And so that was where the anger started. He was using a script and then applying it to real life scenarios.
One day I remember I put my head on the steering wheel. I was like, Lord, you're gonna have to help us. And from the backseat, Levi goes, "Oh mom, he's just scripting a movie that he's been watching where the characters got angry."
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow.
Larah Roberts:
So, he was taking that and applying it to real life. But we could also see that it was making Graham very anxious too, because who likes to get angry? Right. That makes you anxious. So again, we were praying to the Holy Spirit and we just, through the power of the Holy Spirit, decided to cut off the movies and the platforms that he was watching, and then solely go to a Christian based platform that he could watch. And so, we, will never go back.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
To that. I mean, I can't say we won't let him watch a movie here and there, but it has revolutionized our family dynamic and the peace. And now my son goes to school and scripts Gospel truths to his teachers and his fellow students that may not know Jesus.
Stephanie Daniels:
I love it. Yes.
Larah Roberts:
'Cause only by the Holy Spirit. Listen, this is not Larah or Collin that we knew how to make that decision. Because again, we didn't know where it was coming from. We didn't know what to do. But by interrupting it with Gospel truth, it now flipped the script. Literally. Pun intended. Flipped the script for him to script, not angry characters, now he scripts scripture in Gospel truth by that one decision.
Stephanie Daniels:
That's incredible.
Larah Roberts:
So, the role of the Holy Spirit plays a absolute...
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
...we couldn't do it without him.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah. And that's a great practice for anybody.
Larah Roberts:
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Daniels:
Watch what you're allowing in your ear gates.
Larah Roberts:
That's right we.
Stephanie Daniels:
Your eye gates. Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
We are responsible for what they consume.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah. Wow. Thank you so much for sharing that. Could you maybe share some creative ways that parents can introduce prayer, worship, or Scriptures to neurodiverse children?
Larah Roberts:
Yeah, absolutely. When I was growing up, my mom had certain catchphrases, but also, looking back, I mean I wasn't autistic, my brother wasn't autistic, but again, she was interrupting our normal rhythms and patterns and inserting Gospel truth. She would pray, just kinda like we do the Gospel before we leave out of the driveway. I kind of got this off of her too. She would pray before we left out the driveway when we were growing up.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
That was ingrained in me too. And so, we took that into our own family dynamic and we actually say the Scripture verse, Lord bless us and keep us, make your face shine upon us. Raise your countenance on us and give us peace. We all hold hands and then we say a prayer every single morning before we leave the house.
It not only calms whatever craziness happened the moments before getting dressed and getting out the door.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
But it also sets the tone for the day. Find ordinary routines you do every single day and insert Gospel truth.
I have a friend of mine who I asked the same question to. She's like, we keep a shoebox at the door. Your shoes go in the box every single day. So, she is now using that ordinary rhythm or that ordinary place in her home that when they go put their shoes on, they talk about Ephesians six. The, the armor.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes, the armor.
Larah Roberts:
About how our shoes…
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
…the Gospel of peace. Right. We leave our home, we put our shoes on, and we are putting our armor on. It's things like that.
Stephanie Daniels:
That's great.
Larah Roberts:
Actually Stephanie, tt's very simple. We make discipleship really complicated. It doesn't have to be. I'm gonna teach you for 15 minutes. You have to sit down, you have to listen to everything I say. It's just not, girl, it ain't gonna happen.
Stephanie Daniels:
Right? It's never gonna happen that way.
Larah Roberts:
It's just not gonna happen. But let me tell you something. I have heard stories and stories, and even in my own life with Graham, they are listening.
I remember one sister commented on a reel of mine. She's like, "But I can't get mine to sit down. They're always running." So, this wasn't me trying to be clever. My response was not trying to be clever. I said, "Sister, girlfriend, run with them. Run, run with them around the house and then talk about how the walls fell down in Jericho as you run around the house." Always presume competence. They are listening. Join them in their special interest if they're lining up cars, talk about who God is and how he's a good creator.
Here's the one thing, I say to parents as far as can their autistic child, know God and it's this. It would be out of his nature and character to create someone with the inability to know him. It would be out of his nature and character to create someone that can't know him. That's not who he is. Your child can know God again, all we're responsible for is Gospel proclamation and Gospel saturation. The Gospel message will stay the same. Absolutely. But the method in which we...
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm-hmm.
Larah Roberts:
...present it to our kids it's gonna have to be creatively different.
Stephanie Daniels:
Right. Gosh. And it, you're talking about him running and talking about the walls of Jericho that might make him stop. You don’t want the walls of his house to fall down.
Larah Roberts:
Absolutely.
Stephanie Daniels:
That's awesome.
So, do you think that the church has some misconceptions about discipleship and disability?
Larah Roberts:
Ooh, um, yes, I do. I love the local church. I love big C Church, global Church, what God is doing by making his name known among the nations.
Man. Yes, I do believe there's some misconceptions about discipleship and disability. I believe in my perspective and in my season of life, of raising an 8-year-old that's autistic, I think the church has a misconception on behavior. I think there's a lot of work to be done on equipping the church leader, me included, and parents. I think, what I'm about to say, like, Stephanie, I want listeners to understand like it's a two-way street here, right?
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
Parenting and the church. It's a wonderful, beautiful partnership. It's a lot of “one anothering” is what Scripture tells us. So, I do believe there's some misconceptions.
This is gonna be the first time I articulate this, Stephanie, so maybe you can kind of help me a little bit here. I was thinking and I'm like, okay, if we could niche down to like, what is the problem? Like what causes churches to have misconceptions?
I was reflecting on a story a friend told me. She was talking about how she got tapped on the shoulder, multiple times during a church service. About the fifth or sixth time she got tapped on the shoulder from her child being too loud, she was asked to leave.
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm.
Larah Roberts:
And so, she's telling me that my heart's broken. What do you do? And so, in my mind, because I'm, I'm that kind of thinker. Like, what is the problem here? Like, why are my friends raising autistic kids, being tapped on the shoulder at church? Our Graham has been called violent by people. The other ones is, non-compliant. So, I was trying to think like, what is it, and I think it has something to do with noise and unpredictability.
So I don't know I have the answer to all that yet, but it's something with helping each other understand that yeah, it's gonna be a little bit noisy or, the spectrum is wide, it may not be noise, but our kiddos are different and God is helping equip us to understand that and how to make our churches accessible. But misconceptions can be dangerous. So, I would just encourage the church to keep learning how our kids' minds are different.
When we understand how we can work together to make churches more accessible, it becomes more a display of the body of Christ than we've ever seen before. That's my heart and that's my prayer.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah. What you're sharing makes me think about Family Retreat. I just got back from a couple of those the last three weeks. And the families arrive, and they just take over the cafeteria.
Larah Roberts:
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Daniels:
Where, you know, we're all being reunited after a year of not being together. And you've got kids with various disabilities, and it just gets noisy. And you got kids running around and overstimulated, but they're excited and happy. But the thing is, all of the neurotypical people, the volunteers, who may not live with this on the daily…
Larah Roberts:
Right.
Stephanie Daniels:
…but we're here in this space. Like there's just an understanding, patience, and the church just needs to be trained maybe to be a little bit more open-minded. Cause I feel like when I think about Jesus he's not judging, he's not irritated when there's somebody that might be having a meltdown he's accepting and loving. And when we're not in that space all the time, we have to be stretched.
Larah Roberts:
I got a DM one day on Instagram and I will never forget it. And it goes along with this right here. I could tell that it was an older sister from her profile picture. And I think I just put up a story or something, telling about an experience and saddened by it at church. So, I go into my DMs, I see this older sister had DM’d me and this is what she says. Her first line was, "Send the autistic kids to our church." I began to read it more and she said, "We will take 'em."
She said, "I'm a part of a dying church, and you will never be able to understand what it's like, the deafening sound of nothing until you're a part of a dying church. Send all the autistic kids who wanna make noise to our church because we would so much rather have the living sound of kids in our building than the deafening sound of silence."
Stephanie Daniels:
Oh.
Larah Roberts:
I'm gonna frame the DM. Because she was like, we just so want people we're so tired of silence. And I'm sure there's a backstory to all that.
Stephanie Daniels:
Sure.
Larah Roberts:
But she was so precious in her response of like, oh, your church doesn't like noise from your autistic. Send them to our church. Or, tell them to contact me. I'll tell them what a dying church sounds like it's horrible.
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow.
Larah Roberts:
I'll never forget that DM, because it is so true. What would we rather? And then like you said, we have Jesus in the Gospel saying, tell the children to come to me. Right.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah. Bring little children unto me.
Larah Roberts:
And
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
So, I'll never forget that.
Stephanie Daniels:
This makes me think of something I saw a few weeks ago. We were sent an Instagram post from one of our Joni and Friends followers, and the post was of a mom who went to try a church for the first time. And she was so excited to be there. And she goes to check her son into class, and he was having a little bit of a meltdown because it was a new environment. And she was told by the church worker that they don't take aggressive children.
Larah Roberts:
Hmm.
Stephanie Daniels:
And that mom ended up posting this video and it was her bawling and walking around the parking lot with her son just admonishing the church and the leaders to do better. It broke my heart, 'cause she was just really upset. You could tell she was tired. This has been something she's been dealing with, and she was so excited to try this new place. And so, I'm just curious, as a mom what have been some of the most positive or difficult experiences with church communities that maybe you've experienced?
Larah Roberts:
Yeah. It's at the top of the list.
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm.
Larah Roberts:
Um, like I said a few moments ago, I love the local church. My husband is currently on church staff. I've been a part of three church staffs myself. I've worked for nonprofit evangelical ministries all my life. I am a huge cheerleader of the local church. But it has been where we've experienced a lot of hurt in the past five years. And have had to really wrestle with that. Here's the deal, Stephanie. It's a conundrum.
I posted a reel about six months ago and I just said, church pastors, it's a conundrum. We're just confused. We grew up in this place. We went to youth camps. We did GA's when we were little. I mentioned all the like programming and all the things that happened when we were younger as we as adults grew up. Into adulthood too, members serving X, Y, Z. But then a conundrum happens and we have a child with a disability of autism and all of a sudden, this place that we have spent our entire life serving, being served, growing, all the different things and all of a sudden we've had to either stop going.
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm.
Larah Roberts:
That's the extreme. Or now we're in the pastor's office and being slapped on the hand about our parenting.
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow.
Larah Roberts:
Or I've heard all kinds of horror stories, and experienced my own as well. And so yes, we've had our share. I've never been tapped on the shoulder. And because we serve on church staff, we've not had to make that walk outside like my friend on Instagram did. But I've had to walk the halls being told different things.
I'm actually about to film the reel titled, “The Worst Sunday of the Year.” And for those listening, the worst Sunday of the year is Promotion Sunday for an autistic kid.
Stephanie Daniels:
Oh.
Larah Roberts:
And so, our worst Sunday of the year was two years ago when it was Promotion Sunday. New room, new class, new teachers knew everything. Mom was gone because I was outta town. And it was just what I'm gonna call, the perfect storm. Right? And that's when it happened. That's when mean comments were made to us as a family about our child who literally was just trying to survive. Literally trying to survive a really bad day.
Let me offer this to you too, just for listeners. Again, I hear the horror stories, I hear the heartbreak, I hear the parents who are no longer going to church.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
Because of these. And so, yes, absolutely. We're doing our best as far as Key Ministry and, and Joni and Friends there's amazing organizations trying to equip the church.
This Raising Autistic Disciples thing that the Lord has me on is to help equip the parents. Again, organizations doing the job of equipping churches. And so, if I can equip parents, I'm gonna try. And one of those things is writing. And so, I'm in the middle of a book project called “Letters to Lindsey: Seeing Your Child's Autism Diagnosis Through a Gospel Lens.” So, it's just a book that I've compiled these letters that I wrote my friend Lindsay, after she texted me one day, we got the diagnosis. It's autism. Give me everything you got.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
And so. I, I am grateful to Lord of giving me this writing project so I can give to parents who are just getting the diagnosis. So, in those letters I talk about church. I actually had to split it in three parts because it's so much of talking about the church dynamic, right?
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
And one of the questions I'm often asked is, how do you know to stay or go? Because...
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow.
Larah Roberts:
...the reality is, for the family of an autistic kid versus the family of neurotypical, our list is a mile long. Whereas neurotypical, it's preach the Gospel, good children's ministry, and community. Three things. You check 'em off. Our list is, are they gonna be safe? Are they gonna call our child a demon? Are they accessible? This, and this, and that. So, we have a list of mile long.
In the letter to Lindsay that I wrote, stay or go. Honestly, I wanted to equip her and readers that will read it in the whole process of determining do you stay or do you go from this church. So, I, I write about that, but then I end that particular chapter or letter with, here's the deal, the church is learning. We have to understand that. The church has come a long way. There are some that are wanting to learn, they're trying to be equipped, we've gotta have the grace for that as well.
Here's the thing, when we got the diagnosis, we started researching. When we go into an IEP meeting at our school we research. When we are looking at maybe doing medication, absolutely we're gonna research, right? I hate to say it, I don't want it to be this way, when it comes to church, we have to do the same thing. So, if our list is a mile long as parents and families raising all disciples, we gotta go prepared. And if that church is not able to take care of my son or love him, they should, I gotta research that.
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm. Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
And so, when we go on vacation, sometimes I wanna go visit other churches. So, I call ahead of time.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
And I make sure. Some of them will tell me no. And I'm grateful for that no. Some will tell me, “Yes, he will have a buddy.”
So, what I encourage parents to do too is, you're gonna have to do your research. That's just how it is. God is graciously enabling us through websites and through calling the church offices before and be prepared for what we're going into. Because I've been to so many places and even in my own church, of just know the hurt that I'm gonna experience before I go into it, 'cause I've been hurt so many times. So that's one thing as far as practical equipping is, can this church do it?
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
So, I'm gonna make sure before I even step in the door. I will say the reality of it is there is much hurt there. but God is still good.
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow. Yeah. I was going to say, we've talked about a lot of things and especially you get on this topic of challenging things. What advice do you have for families walking through this same place, and that's a great one.
I'm curious, I feel like you're very understanding, and you give grace to the church.
Larah Roberts:
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Daniels:
Does that come from your love for the big C church, like you said?
Larah Roberts:
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Daniels:
And just for the body of Christ, your love for the Lord? Because I feel like when people experience hurt like this, it's so easy to be like, "Yeah, I'm not doing this again. We'll just go home and watch online forever." I think it's easy to not really turn the other cheek when you've been slapped on both sides. Like, you know what I mean? You just are like, I, I'm done. Where does the grace come from, Larah?
Larah Roberts:
Oh Stephanie. Oh, what a great question. I'm sorry. As you were asking, I'm tearing up again. It's twofold. Because I've seen the church and the body, the body within the building, the people, my entire life stand in the gap for me.
My dad was abusive, and my parents got divorced. Um, my mom is my hero in the faith. Brothers and sisters in Christ stood gap for us. And so, I've seen the church at its best.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
I've seen God work through the body of Christ in hard times, and so I know it can happen.
Thank you sister for calling it grace. I, I don't know if I, I'm, there's such a mess in general. Sometimes it does not come off graceful, let's just say that. Sometimes I have to repent and I have had to many a times ask brothers and sisters in the church to forgive me for the words that come out of my mouth because it it does. I mean, it hurts right when your son and your family is not accepted. And having to move mountains and jump hurdles to actually go to church. But I've seen the church at its best.
Here's the thing, and again, determining stay or go. I will encourage, and this is where I think me and Collin and our family are at in this season, and it is not boastful. This is where God has us. I think we're spiritually mature to stay.
Stephanie Daniels:
Oh yeah.
Larah Roberts:
And I say that to say, if you're not spiritually mature, meaning if you think you know what, the Lord has seen us through so much now, and we are grounded in his word, we have community, and we have accountability, we are spiritually mature to stay so that the family behind us that's not at least has people in place that understand or can keep passing the baton and keep running the race, so that they can have an accessible church one day.
I wish there was a rubric for every decision in life. You know what I'm saying?
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah. Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
So, I'm trying to help Lindsay, which is the persona I'm writing to, or the mom after the autism diagnosis, to understand stay or go. I'm trying to provide through God's word, you know, a rubric of this and, if you're spiritually mature, stay. If there's no harm being done...
Stephanie Daniels:
Right.
Larah Roberts:
...stay.
Stephanie Daniels:
Right.
Larah Roberts:
Let's see, what was the other one? Movement, that's one thing I, I'm sure Joni and Friends tells us too. Movement is movement, right? Helping parents see that, you know what, it's gonna take time, but if they're doing one thing. Bless the pastors hearts that sometimes DM me and say, "Oh, we did this one thing, but it's just not enough." Oh, brother, sister. That one thing is huge for us parents.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
So, helping parents understand if there's movement, you can't jump ship.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes.
Larah Roberts:
Because movement is a movement.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes.
Larah Roberts:
Right?
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes.
Larah Roberts:
And so, so encourage, encourage, encourage, encourage and serve too. You know when you can. If God's calling you to stay, it's because you're spiritually mature. There's no harm being done. Movement is movement. And there's a couple more in there.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
And so yeah, that's just what I'm trying to encourage.
Here's one thing Collin has to remind me of so often. How will the body understand Graham if he's not there?
Stephanie Daniels:
Boom. Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
He's eight years old. This past month was Graham's first time at VBS.
Stephanie Daniels:
I love it.
Larah Roberts:
Because I kept him away because I didn't wanna get hurt myself or him to get hurt, and they weren't ready yet. But guess what, Stephanie? God convicted my heart about a year ago, and in the whole "hurtness" of church and how does this work? We're on church staff. There's so many dynamics. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, and his Word says, quit complaining. Pray for an advocate. Advocacy is all through Scripture.
Stephanie Daniels:
Mm-hmm.
Larah Roberts:
We wrote a book called “How to Advocate and Stay Christian.” And he said, quit complaining, Larah. Yeah, I know, I know. I, I get my, yeah. Don't write a book unless you're, you know. We wrote it for us to remind us, but quit complaining, and pray for an advocate. I did that for a year. God provided an advocate.
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow.
Larah Roberts:
In the form of a teenager who's now a college student who loves my kid, and she has paved the way for us to be able to attend church and paved the way for ones like Graham too to be able to come to our church. So, pray for an advocate because God is good and he hears your prayer. And he wants you, he wants you, parent raising an autistic disciple to be among the body of believers.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes.
Larah Roberts:
That is a prayer. I know he will answer because his word says it and he is good. And I've seen it in my own life. And so, yeah, it's a long answer but I, I know it can be done, and I've seen it done and I know God's heart for the gathering of the local church together, and that includes families raising autistic kids in any diagnosis. So…
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah. That was a great answer. I have goosebumps. I have all the goosebumps.
Along those same lines, how can the church become more welcoming and inclusive to families living with autism and other disabilities? Pastors are messaging you, so if you could sit down with a children's pastor or a church leader, what would you want them to understand about your family?
Larah Roberts:
Yeah. What a great question. First, I would thank them for answering the call of God on their life. It is not easy. Like I said, my husband is on church staff. I've been on church, I've seen behind the curtain, per se. It's not easy and I think that's what parents need to understand is, we're craving wanting to be seen and to be accommodated and for churches to be accessible. And I'm not saying that pastors should overlook that, but there is a lot on their plate. There's a lot on church leaders to do list. And so, I encourage parents just to start off with thankfulness. So, I would, I would thank them first, "Thank you so much for how you serve our church in the many different ways and capacities that you do."
And then, I'm not trying to trap a church leader by asking this question. I'm truly trying to be inquisitive and trying to learn and asking them to pastor me by asking this question. And I ask, why are we so good at funerals, but we have a hard time moving toward a family with a kid that's different? Because we're real good at moving toward grief, families in grief. I'm not saying every church is good, but the ones that I've seen are real good at giving a casserole and being at a funeral after someone...
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
... goes to be with Jesus, or that attends their church. Why is it hard for us? Is it because of the unpredictability, or the noise, or you don't know what to say because I can equip you on what to say. Pastor, church leader, all you got to say is your child is an image bearer of God. Praise God for that. And mom and dad, you're doing a good job. Just start there.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
Just remind us of the Gospel. One thing: remind us of who God is. Pastor, that's what we need you to do. Because there are days when we feel like we're treading water and we're not equipped for the task. Remind us of who God is and what the power of the Gospel has done in our life. And then just kind of tell us we're doing good job as mom and dad ' cause we truly think we are just not doing a great job at this job of parenting autistic kids. And so, start with those two things, brother, sister, and we're in this together.
That word raising, yes, discipleship starts in the home, but it's a partnership with the church. I need my teenager's small group leader to pour into her life. I need Graham's advocate, Maddie. I need her to pour into his life. And so, although, yeah, the raising part inside our home is my responsibility, it's still a partnership with the church...
Stephanie Daniels:
Right.
Larah Roberts:
...of raising autistic disciples. Because guess what? We're all going to the same place one day.
Stephanie Daniels:
That's right.
Larah Roberts:
We'll all stand before God. We are running a race to the throne room. And I'm, geez louise. I'm gonna be able to look at the brothers and sisters who poured into my kids and say, we're here praising King Jesus because of all of our obedience to him in this endeavor of raising autistic disciples.
Stephanie Daniels:
That's beautiful. I love that so much. And we're gonna be standing there with Graham and all the...
Larah Roberts:
Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Daniels:
...all the other kiddos that lived with autism on this side of heaven. They're gonna be worshiping there too.
Larah Roberts:
And can I take this moment just to say thank you to you guys, Joni and Friends. And sweet, miss Joni, like praise be to God because you're doing the same thing through camps and coaching and all the things that you guys offer of helping parents and families understand that they are a part of the body of Christ and encouraging them. We're all in this together for sure.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes, absolutely.
So, what would you say to a parent who might be feeling overwhelmed or isolated in their parenting journey? And are there ways God's grace has shown up in unexpected ways in your daily life when you might have been at a place of overwhelm?
Larah Roberts:
Mm oh yes. Absolutely. Journal. Somebody told me that early on, and I have journals throughout my entire teenage and college years and things like that. Because we cannot see progress when we're in the thick of it.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
The cloud, the fog is right there.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
Write down what God is doing in your family. Write down what you see God doing in your child. Write down progress that he or she's making. That's going back to scripture too. Why? So we don't forget.
Instagram and Facebook, at least we can look back at pictures and go, oh yeah, he was not talking then, but now he's talking now. Or he wasn't doing this then, but now he's doing this now. And praise God for that memory. That's how I've seen God's grace show up time and time again.
Here's the thing, Stephanie, as far as isolation goes. It's one of the biggest battles for parents raising autistic kids. Because our home is our controlled environment.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
I can control what happens here. I can't control what happens at church. I can't control what happens at the park.
Stephanie Daniels:
Right.
Larah Roberts:
I can't control what happens at a friend's house. I can control here. So therefore, isolation becomes so much more easier because of this. But here's the thing, there's a season for taking a step back. There's a season for taking rest. But when isolation becomes comfortable, that's when it becomes dangerous. Because you need people and you need the body of Christ.
Our friends say that we trained them, and they understood, okay we gotta go to Larah and Collin. And they have to sit through our crazy. Dodging projectiles that are flying across the living room. Or loud noises or things like that. But, you need the body of Christ. The body of Christ needs you.
Here's what I'm so thankful the Lord is redeeming and he already has, God has redeemed the internet, and he is using it for his glory. If you don't have a church within 20 miles of you and you can't find one that is accessible to your family, at least for Bible study sake, there are opportunities to join in, in the study of God's word. I lead an autism Moms Bible study right online via Zoom. We have a sister from Chile, all over the United States, that attend because they're not able to go to Bible study.
I will always be a cheerleader for church attendance, Stephanie. That's why I'm so invested on helping churches ab be quit for at least that one hour so that the parents can go to worship and sit under the Word.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
But as far as being in Bible setting community, if that's not possible, praise God for online Bible studies and things like that.
That is the way God has graciously shown up in my life, he's given me an online community of autism moms that get it. Because I, have one friend in like, I call real life, right? One friend I physically see that is an autistic mom, but that's it. And so, we have online communities that that can happen.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah. Larah, I wanna know, what has God been teaching you recently? And it doesn't have to be related to what we've been talking about. Autism…
Larah Roberts:
Yeah.
Stephanie Daniels:
…and the church and everything, but. I just, you're such a deep well, so I, what's he been showing you?
Larah Roberts:
I've been studying Romans eight probably. I've been trying to memorize it, Stephanie, for about two years now. And this...
Stephanie Daniels:
Wow.
Larah Roberts:
...this nearly 40-year-old mind just is not what it used to be. Verse one, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." It's probably my theme verse of my life. There's no condemnation, Larah Roberts, because you did this does not mean you're this. Because you failed today does not mean you're a failure tomorrow.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
'Cause you did it. Like girlfriends. Stop and preach the Gospel to yourself today. Over and over and over again because there is no condemnation, because you are in Christ Jesus.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yes.
Larah Roberts:
He has sealed your salvation forever. We get so busy and past failures come up in my mind all the time. And just reminding myself, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Praise be to God.
Stephanie Daniels:
That's encouraging right there. I feel like that was just a free nugget that, that people might have needed to hear. I love everything that you have shared, and you are very active in these social media streets. So how can people find you if they want to follow along and get more encouragement?
Larah Roberts:
Hey, I hang out on Instagram @raisingautisticdisciples. And listen, Stephanie, I have no idea what I'm doing in the social media sphere. Although I say that and I see how God has marked my steps.
Stephanie Daniels:
Yeah.
Larah Roberts:
Um, to, you know, I've made communications my career for the past 20 years, I love video editing, and so he just marked it to where he has given me things to encourage the body and in return as well. The friendships I've made have encouraged me as well. So yeah, on Instagram.
We wrote a book called “How to Advocate and Stay Christian” that's on Amazon. Love that. Currently writing another one, hopefully launching this fall called “Letters to Lindsay: How to See Your Child's Autism Diagnosis Through a Gospel Lens.”
And we're also planning a Raising Autistic Disciples live event online that I'd love for people to join in September. That's what I'm doing and how I'm one day at a time serving the Lord grateful to do it. So.
Stephanie Daniels:
Wonderful. Well, you are a joyful gift. That's what I feel like even...
Larah Roberts:
Thank you, sister.
Stephanie Daniels:
...in the midst of all that you have on your plate, you do it all with joy. This has just been such an encouraging conversation that's been filled with practical tips, which I love. And I hope that any parent that might find themself in the same place can hear what you're saying and say, you know what, I can do this.
So Larah, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today and for all that you do to support and equip parents who are navigating autism in their family.
Larah Roberts:
Thank you, Stephanie. And thank you Joni and Friends. We appreciate you.
Stephanie Daniels:
We hope this conversation touched your heart today. If it did, consider sharing it with someone who might be encouraged as well. And don’t forget to follow us on your favorite podcasting app so you never miss an episode. See you next week!
© Joni and Friends