written by Louis Sacran (Abigail’s Husband; Sunshine and Lily’s Father)
After, David’s Down Syndrome diagnosis, I remember my wife, Abigail, researching the internet and coming up with a detailed list of things we needed to research and understand. After looking at my designated section of the list, I quickly realized that I was going to need to take Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2, to even understand what I was supposed to be researching.
If you have just received the news that your child has a “special needs” diagnosis, perhaps you are wrestling with many questions. All you have to do is look at a few Facebook pages or blogs, to become completely deflated or intimidated by the parents who have made it their life mission to know every medical nuance about a particular disease, as well as every mainline and alternative therapy that treats it.
Perhaps the bigger battle is wrestling with the guilt and shame that accompany some of the questions you’re asking. You love your child unconditionally. You would do anything in the world for your child. You are thankful God has chosen you to be their mother or father, yet, at the same time, you are horrified at the thought that this child’s well-being primarily depends on you. So often, we struggle to answer this overwhelming question::“What am I going to do with a special needs child?”
I want to encourage you that the core answer to that question must be this: You are going to love them. God has given you a child to be loved, not primarily a project to improve. While we want to see our children thrive, much of the stress and frustration comes from our expectations, rather than our actual circumstances. You have been entrusted with a blessing from God.
And while the question we’ve posed is legitimate, I think the more important question is “What is God doing in my life with this special needs child?”
Soon after David was born, I received an email from my friend and co-worker, Peggy. Peggy has a special needs son, who is in his twenties. She said “Louis, many people say that God gives special needs children to special parents. However, I don’t believe that. God uses our children to make us something that we could not have been without them.” This has traces of Romans 8:28 and 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 all over it.
The encouragement I have for you today, is that God knows what He is doing. He is your Psalm 23 shepherd, and He will give you what you need as you need it. You can trust Him, even when you can’t understand Him.
The post The Lord is My Shepherd….Even When I Have Not Idea What He is Doing appeared first on Spreading Sunshine.
