I have a friend who, when embarrassed by her special needs daughter in public, later complained to her husband about how she felt. Her husband lovingly chastised her to "stop right there" - did she think she was better than her daughter? This story struck me, and has stayed with me for years. What a loving and wise father and husband. This happened well before my daughter was even a twinkle in my eye. It helped develop how I view the world.
Proverbs 14:31:
"Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him."
SInce my daughter was born, I feel like I've been fighting for her dignity since the maternity ward. How dare that woman from records say "I'm sorry" when learning of her diagnosis? Since she was born, I have been on the offensive - "you WILL love my child! look at how beautiful!" It hurts me, on behalf of her and those like her, when people think her condition is undesirable. The vanity of this world is so strange. So, I have been walking around uselessly injured, unbeknownst to those who hurt me. My kids have a saying. "That sounds like a 'you' problem, Mom." Praying for a charitable heart, the truth of that becomes clearer and clearer. I cannot dictate to another how they deal with an unexpected circumstance. But I want to. Pray for me.
Yesterday was World Down Syndrome Day. I don't reject the notion of having a day to celebrate our "special" kids and advertise how remarkable they are. I love it. What I take umbrage at is that we need to show the world, justify, in a sense, their humanity. I happen to have a child with DS, but it could be ANY anomaly, any disease, any condition that is atypical...every one of our children is fully human. Worthwhile. Necessary.
SInce my daughter was born, I feel like I've been fighting for her dignity since the maternity ward. How dare that woman from records say "I'm sorry" when learning of her diagnosis? Since she was born, I have been on the offensive - "you WILL love my child! look at how beautiful!" It hurts me, on behalf of her and those like her, when people think her condition is undesirable. The vanity of this world is so strange. So, I have been walking around uselessly injured, unbeknownst to those who hurt me. My kids have a saying. "That sounds like a 'you' problem, Mom." Praying for a charitable heart, the truth of that becomes clearer and clearer. I cannot dictate to another how they deal with an unexpected circumstance. But I want to. Pray for me.
Because DS is a repeat of the 21st chromosome, March 21st was chosen to be World Down Syndrome Day. Because of 3/21, I went in search of Holy Scripture, any book, to see what each ch.3, verse 21 had to say. Some were irrelevant to my purpose (I'm not fully sure what my purpose was, other than to find something that applied to where I am right now), but didn't Philippians 3:21 come up:
Philippians 3:
"And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."
To me, this verse proves that we are all broken, on a level playing field, equal to the guy next to us. We all have lowly bodies. We are a fallen people. We all have sin, and vanity and pride and bad hearts and TBIs and bum legs and failed kidneys and anxiety and depression and cancer, or any malady.
One day all of our bodies will stop. Our bodies are not who we are. We will be freed the bonds of this plane, and we'll each have our transfiguration moments, of a sort, when we will be seen as we truly are, and we hope, with grace and mercy, go to Heaven where we will be free of ailments.
Are diagnoses that are genetically detectable before birth any different? I would argue that these pure souls will touch God's face LONG before the rest of us.
Are they to be mourned? Or do we serve Our Lord, Creator of each one of us, who knew us before He formed us, when we delight in the gift of every child He sees fit to send us, for us to care for as our own....
Philippians 3:
To me, this verse proves that we are all broken, on a level playing field, equal to the guy next to us. We all have lowly bodies. We are a fallen people. We all have sin, and vanity and pride and bad hearts and TBIs and bum legs and failed kidneys and anxiety and depression and cancer, or any malady.
One day all of our bodies will stop. Our bodies are not who we are. We will be freed the bonds of this plane, and we'll each have our transfiguration moments, of a sort, when we will be seen as we truly are, and we hope, with grace and mercy, go to Heaven where we will be free of ailments.
Are they to be mourned? Or do we serve Our Lord, Creator of each one of us, who knew us before He formed us, when we delight in the gift of every child He sees fit to send us, for us to care for as our own....
