{"id":20437,"date":"2024-12-09T12:12:31","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T17:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=20437"},"modified":"2024-12-09T12:12:31","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T17:12:31","slug":"a-mothers-story-of-caregiving-grief-and-giving-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2024\/12\/a-mothers-story-of-caregiving-grief-and-giving-back.html","title":{"rendered":"A Mother\u2019s Story of Caregiving, Grief, and Giving Back"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Adobe Stock | Inset: @jessplusthemess \/ Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2004 after a routine ultrasound, Jessica Ronne, who was living in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the time, received the news that no expectant mother wants to hear: her unborn child had suffered a stroke and had no chance of survival. Despite being told to terminate the pregnancy, Jessica and her husband, Jason, refused. \u201cWe put our baby in the Lord\u2019s hands and just had faith that God’s will would be done,\u201d Jessica told The Christian Post<\/em><\/a>. Their baby, Lucas, was born August 12. Lucas would have intense medical needs, dropping Jessica and her husband into the role of caregiving parents.<\/p>\n

Just three years later, Jason would begin to mysteriously lose weight and have seizures. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor, an oligodendroglioma, which later developed into a glioblastoma after surgery. The diagnosis left Jessica overwhelmed as she was also raising four young children, including Lucas. \u201cI felt like I was drowning every day trying to take care of the four kids and a husband who was completely deteriorating,\u201d she told Today<\/em>.<\/a> After three years of battling the tumor, Jason would pass away, leaving Jessica a widow at 33.<\/p>\n

Despite the grief and the responsibility of raising four children under seven, Jessica found strength. \u201cEven as I buried my husband, I promised him that our children wouldn\u2019t lose two parents \u2014 one to death and one to depressive grief,\u201d she said of the time. \u201cI just leaned into the Lord, and he provided what I needed, which was just enough manna for the moment, and I was just able to continue to put one foot in front of the other and continue to live for my children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica began a blog<\/a> to bare her grief and share with others who were going through loss, as well as other parents caring for children with disabilities. One of her readers reached out to her and told her about a man named Ryan Ronne, who had lost his wife to cancer just four days after Jessica had lost Jason. The reader thought they could encourage each other, leading Jessica to send a message to Ryan, who was living 1,000 miles away in Guymon, Oklahoma. Ryan was raising his own three young children alone and the two instantly connected through a series of emails and phone calls. They would meet in December 2010. By February 2011, Ryan proposed and the two were married two months later, blending together their seven children. They moved to a 30-acre property in Tennessee in 2013 and expanded their family with the birth of their daughter in 2015.<\/p>\n

Despite the busy life of caring for Lucas and seven other children, Jessica decided to give back and help other parents who found themselves in the role of caregiver. She started The Lucas Project to offer resources to a sector of parents she says are often overlooked. \u201cWe isolate ourselves in our homes with these behaviors, with the aggression, with the incontinence,\u201d she said. \u201cI often even speak with pastors at churches, and they’re like, \u2018We don’t have these families in our community.\u2019 And I’ll say, \u2018Yes, you do, you just don’t see them.\u2019 The church is not created for these families. Environments aren’t created for these families.\u201d She gives talks to educate church and communities about the struggles of special needs families. She said churches can help in ways that may appear small but offer huge relief. \u201cEach child is so different, and the Church doesn\u2019t know its place. But helping doesn\u2019t have to mean direct care for the child. It can be mowing a family\u2019s lawn, bringing over a meal, or picking up groceries. Small groups within a church could adopt a family, learning together how to meet their needs.\u201d She encouraged others to get out of their comfort zones. \u201cThis is exactly the kind of work Jesus did \u2014 stepping into messy, uncomfortable spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2004 after a routine ultrasound, Jessica Ronne, who was living in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the time, received the news that no expectant mother wants to hear: her unborn child had suffered a stroke and had no chance of survival. Despite being told to terminate the pregnancy, Jessica and her husband, Jason, refused. \u201cWe…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":20434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1200],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-people","category-woman"],"yoast_head":"\nA Mother\u2019s Story of Caregiving, Grief, and Giving Back<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2024\/12\/a-mothers-story-of-caregiving-grief-and-giving-back.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Mother\u2019s Story of Caregiving, Grief, and Giving Back\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 2004 after a routine ultrasound, Jessica Ronne, who was living in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the time, received the news that no expectant mother wants to hear: her unborn child had suffered a stroke and had no chance of survival. 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