Holland

 A little Deeper....

Our family has been Blessed with a child with a disability, Jet. 

 Snow Day, 2011

Jet was born with a cleft palate. He has around a 2 year developmental delay which is most prevalent in his speech.  He has a chromosome duplication, Xp22.31. He has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and a hearing loss. Jet should be getting hearing aids this week.

When you have a special needs child - you have to mourn the loss of the "perfect" child that you were hoping and praying for - and then you move on. That doesn't mean that there still aren't days that you grieve for the things that your child is missing out on and how your heart breaks every time you watch them struggle. But having a child that is "different" is extraordinary. And to be perfectly honest, Jesus is still teaching me to find the Joy in this journey. Because I have days that are filled with tears, depression, worry and fear.

Valentines Day, 2011

Jet has taught us so much about who Jesus is. How faithful He is. How loving He is. How consistent the Holy Spirit is - every time you ask for Him. The Greatest thing that Jet has taught me is that despite the rain and clouds and sometimes tornadoes, God is Good.

Welcome To Holland
by
Emily Perl Kingsley

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy.  You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum.  The Michelangelo David.  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. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy!  I'm supposed to be in Italy.  All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan.  They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease.  It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language.  And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place.  It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy.  But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips.  Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there.  And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." 

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever  go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... 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.

Confident of His Goodness,
Lela