The world of special needs is filled with statistics: in the United States, about 17 percent of children have a diagnosed developmental disability, and 14 percent of public school students receive special education services. But behind these statistics are stories-stories of children struggling to fit into a world that wasn't designed for them, and stories of parents giving everything they have to advocate for their children. Most of these parents didn't choose this path; they were thrust upon it unknowing, unprepared, and often overwhelmed. They may struggle to talk about their experiences in relatable ways with family, friends, and even God. Special Grace is a collection of 127 prayers for all aspects of life for families with special needs. Here are prayers for family life, school, and church; prayers for an initial diagnosis, for the first day of school, and for celebrating a milestone. Each section is set off by a reflective essay from Evans's own family life. Filled with humor and wisdom, these prayers and reflections will help families process their experiences together and offer them to God with hope and simple trust. In moments when the cries of your heart leave you speechless, Special Grace provides words you can bring before your Father in heaven.

This Crowded Night brings the women of the New Testament Gospels to life, capturing the voices of mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives struggling to find their way--and perhaps their faith--in a society where women's voices are too often pushed to the margins. "I'm always looking for ways to read the scriptures--its narratives and people--with clearer, wider eyes and ears. Elrena Evans book does this beautifully, bringing ancient but real people and events to vivid, enfleshed, believable life. Words are made flesh--and God comes near in these stories," says Leslie Leyland Fields, Author, The Spirit of Food; and MFA faculty, Seattle Pacific University. "In these short stories, Elrena Evans joins a long, Christian literary and theological tradition that extends back to the times of the medieval mystery plays and likely before that. To the Bible stories' bare contours, she adds earthly atmosphere, creaturely flesh, and very deep feeling. Her renderings of the familiar tales offer such startling insight and moving revelation that this work of devotion and imagination deserves to find a place beside the more conventional approaches to the Bible," celebrates Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Author, Poetry in America

"Through the voices of those who have weathered the storm, Mama, PhD provides invaluable lessons for young scholars-both men and women-striving to navigate family and academic careers."-Robert Drago, author of Striking a Balance: Work, Family, Life "All those sleepless nights and dirty diapers and baby food in your hair-where's the discursive construction of motherhood when you need it? It's here, in these smart, funny, poignant essays that struggle to balance mind and body, to balance body and soul."-Catherine Newman, PhD, author of Waiting for Birdy: A Year of Frantic Tedium, Neurotic Angst, and the Wild Magic of Growing a Family "I wish I had this book in the late 1970s when I was a young untenured professor trying to teach five sections of composition and raise a new (adopted) baby. The tales in Mama, PhD could have served as a virtual consciousness raising group for me as I toiled away in academia. Happily the book is available today for women trying to balance the pulls of motherhood and career."-Nan Bauer-Maglin, author of Cut Loose: (Mostly) Older Women Talk about the End of (Mostly) Long-Term Relationships Every year, American universities publish glowing reports stating their commitment to diversity, often showing statistics of female hires as proof of success. Yet, academic life remains overwhelmingly a man's world and the presence of women, specifically those with children, in the ranks of tenured faculty has not increased in a generation. This anthology explores the continued inequality of the sexes in higher education and suggests changes that could make universities more family-friendly workplaces. Candid, provocative, and sometimes with a wry sense of humor, the essays speak to and offer support for any woman attempting to combine work and family. Elrena Evans received her MFA in creative writing from The Pennsylvania State University. Her work appears in such journals as Literary Mama, Brain, Child, Hip Mama, and the anthology Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers. Caroline Grant is an editor and columnist for Literary Mama. She holds a PhD in comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley.