Hey, I’m Jason. I’m a dad, pastor, and writer who is happiest when telling stories and eating chips. I am married to an exquisite beauty called Sara, and we have five adorable, intimidating children. We live in Oregon because the coffee is terrific, the landscapes are beautiful, and the people are pretty swell, too.
This site will feature posts about autism, fatherhood, and the Christian faith. That’s a mixed bag, I know, but that’s my life. There might be some short stories and poems thrown into the mix as well. The autism thing comes into play most often as my wife and I deal with my son Jackson’s condition. He was developing normally until he turned two, and then he went into a fog. Soon, his vocabulary was gone, and he stopped hitting any developmental markers. At three, he was diagnosed with moderate autism. A few years later, that was upgraded to “severe.”
But this blog isn’t really about Jack. It’s about me. It’s about all of us: how we ride the swells of progress and regress, how we clutch onto hope until our fingers freeze, and how we need to remind ourselves of the reality of joy in the midst of pain.
So if you’ve come here to learn the A to Z’s of autism, you’re going to be disappointed. I’m no expert. Rather, I’m just a guy who is still trying to figure things out. I’ve got my challenges, and you’ve got yours. So come. Journey with me.
Oh, and if you want to know more, check out my book, “Aching Joy: Following God in the Land of Unanswered Prayer.” It releases on October 2nd.
Hi Jason,
I am a fellow pastor who has a child with autism. Ben is 6, non-verbal with a moderate diagnosis. I serve a church in Pennsylvania, although I am from Oregon. I attended Northwest Christian University in Eugene in the early 90’s.
I have been looking for someone in pastoral ministry who “gets it”.
I’ll check out your blog.
Blessings,
Robert Ziehmer
Hey Robert, thanks for reading! Sounds like we have some things in common. We have some NCU staff that go to our church. Sounds like a great place.
Keep an eye out here soon, because I am going to post about how our church is starting to open our doors to autism families. I think it might work for a lot of churches around the country.
Blessings!
This is great my son and we are blessed by your love and wisdom and the wonderful family you have given us, even if you do live 1500 miles away.
Sounds like a great mix to me.
So what’s the deal with exclamation points?