October, 2011 Down Syndrome Awareness... Day 30

The Road Less Traveled...

This is it! I did it! I remember someone asking me at the beginning… ‘how will you share something every day?’ To be honest… I’m not sure how I managed a post every day but I have been so incredibly blessed thru this whole month.

And I’m sure there’s so much more I could write (I can see you all rolling your eyes, lol)… so many more things about Down Syndrome I could tell you… but instead, I’ll just encourage you to look deeper and harder for someone around you with Down Syndrome (or any other form of ‘unperfectness’… maybe autism or cancer or poverty… or a need that doesn’t even have a name or face) and befriend them, smile at them, ask them questions… put them first… and write your own posts about how it affects you.

Because it WILL affect you. It will change you.

Down Syndrome has changed me.

I was reminded of a story this morning of yet another way Down Syndrome has changed me. It was a quiet day at home with only Caleb and Josh. Jared and Abby were spending time with my in-laws. I was folding laundry in the upstairs bathroom and Jon was on fixing something on the roof. Caleb began screaming out from the swing outside. If you’re a mom… you know the scream… it was an emergency.

As I reached the backyard, I saw Josh. He was at the TOP of the ladder, at the roof’s edge, looking down at me with a smile. He was 3… and there were rungs missing up there.

Don’t you know, I began laughing. Obviously, laughter in times of stress gets me thru. My husband was less than impressed as he was coaxing Josh to stay still and me to “GET A GRIP”. I’m deathly scared of heights. There was nothing I could do but laugh.

But I climbed it… I climbed it and I held onto Josh and we climbed down together. Anyone who knows me knows what this took for me to do, but I did it. I learned a couple of very important lessons from that experience. First, I can do it. I can do things I never dreamed possible (when I stop laughing). Second, don’t leave a ladder on the side of the house and Josh unattended. UGH!

Besides serving God, being a wife and mother are the most important things in my life. I take both very seriously. I have days when I want to run away… but more often (my husband might not agree that it’s more often, lol), I love every bit of this journey that God has allowed me to walk. There’s chaos and racket and wresting in every single day… but there’s grace and mercy and forgiveness too.

Our family’s journey with Down Syndrome is the same... sometimes frustrating, sometimes funny, sometimes stressful and sometimes moving… but always guided by the One who picked us because… for whatever reason… He knows we are capable. Don’t be fooled tho… it’s not MY strength, or Jon’s strength, or even because we are so amazing as a couple (hahaha!)… it’s because of what psalm 29:11 says… “The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.”

He has., in the past, given us strength and blessed us with peace. That will continue, as we continue to trust Him… of that I am certain.

So, this is far from 'the end'. In fact, we have a long road ahead of us with Josh and with all our kids. Thank each of you for reading this month. Thank you for laughing with me, crying with me and loving us. I love having Down Syndrome in my life as it has brought me many of you. As Josh would say ((((group hug)))), lol.

Today’s picture is titled “The Road Less Traveled”. I thought that appropriate when I first saw the picture and related it to Down Syndrome… then a dear friend saw something else in it…

The road less traveled… yes it’s rocky, has lots of twists and turns and is full of steep inclines… but look at that view.