John Turns 3

How time flies. We as a family look back over the 3 years of caring for John and see how the Lord has used this little boy to mature us and to cause us to rethink the priorities of life, just as our other children have also come with lessons for Dad and Mom. But a child with special needs really throws everything off balance from the way the we think life should be.

These past 3 years has caused us to work a little harder and dig a little deeper. It has taught us that we sometimes grow very comfortable with life and relating to people "just like us", that it is difficult to see how the Lord wants to draw us out of our comfort zone to teach us more.

I am happy to report that John is doing above and beyond what we ever expected. Don't get me wrong, Joy and I have always expected a lot from our children and are proud of how each child has met those challenges. But given the professions that Joy and I have, we don't see the healthy Down syndrome children and when we found out that John would be born with Ds, our picture was skewed. This alone has taught us reliance upon God the Father who loves His children very much doesn't follow a script of how life should be and gives us strength and guidance to live the life He has chosen for us to live.

With that being said, John's accomplishments have overwhelmed us with the latest being his 3 year check-up visit last week. Despite not gaining weight much since his last visit 6 months ago, John received a clean bill of health. His head size, height is all on track. Joy and I had his neck x-rayed for atlantoaxial instability which is common in Ds children with the results being negative for any instability. It was determined that he is functioning at about 6 months delayed. His vocabulary grows weekly and is now putting about 4 words together.

As parents of a Ds child, we have learned to celebrate each and every accomplishment no matter how small. That each accomplishment, each day of life for us and for John is a gift from the One who loves us very much. I don't have an explanation for why God chose me to take care of John just like I can't explain why he chose me to be born in this country or allow me to be born to the parents I have. But I know that He loves us and gives us all what we need in order to grow closer to Him for that is His desire for each one of us.