The world might seem to have a lot to offer, but as it applies to the caring of a child or loved one with special needs, it offers us things that won’t make us happy and won’t deliver what we need. The world will always lack authenticity and the act of serving will not be very high on the rung of the ladder, by world standards.
God convicted me. He challenged how much I believed it. What would my and my husband’s actions tell us? Were we believing God for His plan for our son, or were we expecting Him to help with ours? Were we open to the possibility that His plans might be different from what we’ve envisioned?
Did I trust God’s plan for the life of my child with disabilities? Did I trust God’s plan for the life of my child with disabilities during his frequent medical crises as a baby? Did I trust God’s plan for the life of my child with disabilities when he was a young adult? Do I trust his plans now?
When we care for our child(ren) with special needs, it’s self-sacrificing. It is more than a “job” as some might say, it is an undertaking (as one of my friends shared so succinctly with me). Yet some of us have a different level and depth of care. Although our son needs 24/7 attention and care, he can do a good number of things on his own. Cindi Ferrini shares the difference between Self-less and Selfless.
When people find out that I am a pediatric speech-language pathologist and the mother of a child with Down syndrome, I am often asked about the order of these life events. Did my daughter inspire my career or was it a coincidence?
I could almost hear the voice speaking into my heart. That was weird for me because I can count on one hand the number of times when God has spoken to me that manner. That simple truth—that Jesus cares about the small things—allowed me to comprehend the passage in a new light. And this new perspective can be applied to the very human endeavor of parenting children with special needs and disabilities.
Gasp and sacrilege! How dare I entertain the idea of the mother of God worrying about the divine child entrusted to her care. Until I remember that, though this baby boy was fully divine and fully human, his mother was not. Instead of asking What did Mary worry about?, maybe this is what I should ask instead: What did Mary, a human mom like me and you, do with her worries?
