By Emily Perl Kingsley
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability—to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it. It’s like this . . .
When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip to Italy. You buy guidebooks, and make wonderful vacation plans to see the coliseum, the Michelangelo David, and the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later the plane lands and the flight attendant say, “Welcome to Holland.”
“Holland? You say!” What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I should to be in Italy. All of my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.” Because of unforeseen circumstances the plane landed in Holland, and there you must stay.
The important thing is that you are not in a horrible, disgusting, filthy place that is full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It’s just a different place. So you must get new guidebooks; you must learn a new language. You will meet new people that you probably would not have met.
It’s just a different place; but after you’ve been there for a while, you catch your breath, you look around, and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
Everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy; they brag about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was going. That’s what I had planned.”
The pain will never completely go away; the loss of that dream is a significant loss to you. However, if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.
“Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” 1 Peter 5:6 (KJV)
Acorns, Pumpkins, and GOD–A lady was walking through a meadow one day. As she strolled along meditating on nature, she came upon a field of pumpkins, and in the corner of the field stood a majestic oak tree.
Sitting under the oak tree the lady mused about the strange twists in nature. Tiny acorns hung on huge branches and large pumpkins sat on tiny vines. She thought, “God blundered with this creation! He should have put the small acorns on the tiny vines and the large pumpkins on the huge branches.”
Before long, the late autumn sunshine lulled the lady to sleep. She was awakened by a tiny acorn bouncing off her nose. Chuckling to herself, she amended her previous thinking, “Maybe God was right after all!”
In every situation, God knows more about the people and circumstances involved than we can ever know. He alone sees the beginning from the end. He alone knows how to create a Master Plan that provides for the good of all those who serve Him.
Only God knows what lies ahead for your life. Today, trust in Him and His plan—it may seem backwards, but He always does what is best for you. –Honor Books.
My favorite scripture, “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think . . .” Ephesians 3:20-21 (KJV)
