Stories to Read to the Family You Love

My Special Children and God

God could not be everywhere, so He created mothers _ Anonymous

Raising a child who needs special protection brings special difficulties. Last summer I came to know God through my daughter, who has Down syndrome. One hot July morning, I woke to the sound of a broken fan blowing hot air across my face. The sound made me think of all the broken things in my life. Sarah's heart surgery and her serious infection were behind us, but we were still left with enormous hospital bills. On top of that, in a few weeks my husband would lose his job, and we would lose our house.

I closed my eyes to say my morning prayer and felt a small hand tugging at my arm. "Mommy!" It was Sarah. "I-I got rea-dy for Sum-mer Bi-ble School all by my-self." Five-year-old Sarah stood beside the bed, her eyes sparkling behind thick pink glasses. So proud that she had done it all alone, she even held up both palms and cried, "Ta-da!" Looking closer, I saw she had put on her red checkered linen shorts backward, and her new green polka-dot top was on backward too, with the price tag still attached. She wore mismatched socks, one red and one green, to go with the outfit. Her sneakers were on the wrong feet, and her baseball cap was on backward.

"I pa-acked my back-pack, too," Sarah said haltingly as I opened it to see what was inside.