Tragedy, and a Wonderful Response

Tragedy? What tragedy, you ask?

The tragedy of two parents who sued - not because their daughter died, but because their daughter lived. Parents who wish that they had had the chance to have her killed.

That is tragedy at its worst, and I pity these parents from my heart - because I honestly cannot think of a worse spiritual state to be in than one which looks a precious four-year-old with Downs Syndrome, and thinks "I wish I had aborted you."

The thought of that leaves me speechless.

In case you're thinking that I don't know what I'm talking about, you're wrong - I do. Our little boy - our middle child - has an undiagnosed genetic syndrome which is, to all appearances, far more severe than Downs Syndrome. At age two and a half, he does not walk, talk, or crawl. At this point, I have no idea when or if he will ever talk, read, be potty trained, or live on his own. He may need to live with us for the rest of his life.

And he is the light and the darling of our family. God blessed us with his precious little life, and we are so grateful that He trusted us to be his parents. It is a sacred trust that we value highly.

I cannot imagine looking at him - despite the problems behind and the challenges ahead - and wishing that we had disposed of him in an abortion clinic.

God does not make mistakes.

And so, I wish to share this article, which is absolutely breathtakingly brilliant - written by the mama of a child with Downs Syndrome. Please read, and share - it says perfectly everything that needs to be said about this situation.

Perhaps You Should Sue God

Her thoughts are my thoughts:

"I'm not sure how you look into those almond shaped eyes - grasp that warm hand smaller than most - hold close the body vibrating with life and say "We wish we could have aborted you"."

And I love how she closes:

"I heard that FAR in front of you in that line to sue God is a four year old little girl who shares your genetic makeup - her complaint is that she she has to have parents who want her dead. Good luck using your 2.9 million to take the sting out of THAT."

Exactly.

And, of course, this does not even touch upon the more global tragedy of Downs Syndrome - that over 90% of our precious babies with Downs Syndrome never make it to birth - because their parents DO find out their condition and choose to have them killed before they see the light of day. Those precious little ones - who are able to live full and joy-filled lives, and who are killed by the thousands because parents do not want to deal with a child facing health challenges. This is the tragedy of our age - that only healthy, wanted children are considered worthy of life.

May God bless this little girl. My prayer for her parents is that God will use their precious little one to change their hearts - that at some point in the future, they will sit down and say, "I am so, so very sorry for what we did and what we wanted to do."

And may God do the same for all the parents who are blessed with our precious babies who come with an extra chromosome, or with other challenges - those babies who can be such a blessing to our communities and our world, if we just let them.