Meet Mandy Mazzawi

We recently connected with Mandy Mazzawi and have shared our conversation below.

Mandy, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

It’s not something that happened over night. It was from getting up each day for weeks, months and years, and making a choice to tackle that day.

You see, my oldest son was diagnosed at 18 months old with Cerebral Palsy, a gross motor disability affecting the legs and feet, but one that also can affect fine motor skills in your arms and hands. It was a devastating moment and I grieved for many years the childhood he would have and what my life as his mother would look like.

Still, in that grief, there was a deep understanding that we can’t just give up, that there is hope, and while each day may be its own challenge, we had to rise to it.

So I think a lot of my resilience is from those early years, when we had physical therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral therapy, and were seeing a handful of specialists as well. Feeling the overwhelm, even the fear, and falling on my knees in prayer, then getting up to take that first step. On top of all of that I was pregnant with our second child. And while I couldn’t take away my son’s CP, I could offer him the next best thing – a rock solid faith and the willingness to approach each day with a “can do” attitude.

It wasn’t until about 5 years ago that I started writing about my experiences of faith and raising a child with special needs. While my writing doesn’t explicitly focus on my son, for his privacy, I draw from my time as a special needs parent, the darkness I wandered through, and how my faith pulled me into the light, all to encourage others who feel like they are facing the impossible alone.

I often say that half the time I’m writing it is to figure out how to put a hug into word form.

So many people feel lonely in this world, and being a special needs parent can feel even more isolating. I understand that feeling and have been there. It’s dark, lonely, and it feels like you will never escape that reality. So my writing isn’t afraid to tackle some of the darker moments, while steering my readers to the source of my joy, and hope – Christ.

It’s amazing as a parent to see your choices come full circle as your children grow. As my son has become a teenager, and with his most recent surgery requiring 3 major bones in his legs to be broken and reset, he reminded me of something that I still sometimes forget in the busyness of life with 3 kids, writing, homeschooling, and living life: that withstanding and bouncing back from impossible moments isn’t about being perfect, or not being afraid.

It’s about rising each morning, turning to prayer, facing the day before you, and then taking that first step.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Mandy Mazzawi is a Catholic writer and speaker whose work explores the beauty of living faith in the thick of real life. As a homeschooling mom of three, including one with special needs, she brings an honest and encouraging voice to those seeking God’s love in everyday chaos. Her reflections blend theology, storytelling, and practical wisdom to help readers deepen their faith in the ordinary and the unseen.

Mandy writes the Mustard Seeds & Wildflowers newsletter on Substack, where she shares weekly devotionals and monthly deep-dives into topics like finding spiritual community, living a fulfilling faith as a lay Catholic and how to suffer well. She also offers a paid tier – The Wildflower Grove – a quiet space for readers who want to go deeper with exclusive reflections, printable resources, and seasonal tools for faith at home.

You can read and subscribe at: Mandymazzawi.substack.com

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Being a special needs parent isn’t for the faint of heart but it does not, under any circumstance require special skills or being a certain type of person. When I look back on my journey, I realize it took vulnerability, the willingness to ask for help from others. Without that I wouldn’t have learned how to parent my son better, and parent how he needed given his unique needs.

It also takes lots of grace, for yourself and for others. You can’t expect perfection on this kind of journey. Curve-balls will be thrown, often right at you, and you have to be willing to be flexible, to not expect yourself to be a robot that never has an off day, but also to be flexible with others if they aren’t rising to the occasion – because honestly that will happen a lot, and getting flustered or angry will just drain you of your precious energy reserves.

Finally, don’t be afraid to do a deep dive into scientific literature, educate yourself on your child’s condition or diagnosis straight from the source. I spent countless hours pouring over studies, reading books, learning neuroscience and about brain plasticity. I became an expert on my child, and the drive to help him got me there.

So if you are just starting out on this special needs parenting journey, don’t be afraid to ask your child’s doctor for book and article recommendations. Tell them you want to educate yourself. Don’t be worried about asking for help from people around you, you cannot do it all. That’s ok. Finally, protect your energy levels. It is a LOT to parent a child with special needs. You can’t fight every battle. So pick the biggest ones, and go from there.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

I look back to the early days of parenting my son, and almost all I can see is the overwhelm I was living in. I was a young mom, 24, with a special needs child, having to figure it all out because our first doctor dropped the diagnosis in our laps and said “see you in 6 months.”

I’ve learned so much about myself in the 14 years of being a special needs parent and have come up with strategies that have been tested again and again. When I feel overwhelmed now I do 3 things in this order:

1) I pray. I realize not everyone thinks of this first, but I cannot stress enough how much this has helped me. I’ve prayed when angry, when sad, when joyful, and scared. It has been as short as “God…” because I can’t manage more words than that. There is no right way to pray – just go for it and see where it leads. Sometimes I walk away feeling exactly the same and wonder why I should even bother, and other times I floored by the peace that floods my heart. Still, it grounds me, allows me to focus, and put things in perspective.

2) Gratitude. I take the time to be thankful for all the things that I can think of that have gone right, or are how I want them in my life. It can be as little as 5 minutes but it reminds me that while this overwhelming moment is here, it won’t last. That’s huge because it means you will survive it. And if you can survive it, it’s suddenly not so overwhelming.

3) Making time for myself. Again even 5 minutes, scattered throughout the day can be the difference between being stressed and being overwhelmed. Try really hard to not make that 5 minutes just scrolling on your phone (I know, it’s so tempting to escape!) Instead, pull out your favorite candy, and enjoy that for 5 minutes focusing on it. Or listen to a favorite song. Step outside and let the sun hit your face, feel the breeze. Sip on your favorite coffee or tea, or wine. 5 minutes of focusing on something just for you reminds you that the overwhelm won’t last, and also helps you bring your stress levels down *just enough* that you can approach that overwhelm with fresh eyes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mandymazzawi.substack.com
• Instagram: @mustardseedsandwildflowers

Image Credits

Mandy Mazzawi