this wasn’t the plan

3 Commentswriting,

[friends had a baby last week, who is beautiful and wonderful, and born with downs syndrome and some serious associated health problems.

welcome to the world, little one… may we treat you with love]

we expected the grief and fear
but where did the wonder come from?

how is it
that when we look at you,
undeniably flawed,
we see you perfect.

how did we ever think
that you would be not quite right
when you embody
so completely
what it is to be fully human:
broken, awe-inspiring,
all at once,
with every cell.

this wasn’t the plan
but now we’ve seen the unfolding,
we would have it no other way.

3 Comments

  2. Cheryl

    thanks becky

    i’m really hoping this ending isn’t read as saying that we don’t wish him to be well, or whole – we’d give anything for him to be healthy… i mean it as saying this little one – flawed and broken – is already pure gift, and that those who love him most couldn’t imagine life without him, already.

  3. Jen

    This is beautiful Cheryl. And so true too in the experience of my friends who have a severely mentally and physically disabled baby daughter. Lydia is such a gift to us, an invitation to encounter the reality of God in the middle of pain and brokenness.

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