The Lucky Few

This book came out last month, and when I heard about it, I knew I just had to have it. Today, I finally made my way over to Barnes & Noble to buy it. I've only made it through the first chapter and I already love it. I can't wait to read more. If you are fostering, adopting, struggling with infertility, or parenting a child with Special Needs, this book is for you. But really, I think anyone can find a way to relate to this book as it is about "Embracing the Gift of the Unexpected." And I do believe that unexpected things happen to all of us.

"The Lucky Few..." I hear those three words used a lot now that I have a child with Down Syndrome. And I have to admit, that on the day of Colton's birth when I first heard his diagnosis, I didn't feel so "lucky." I felt sad and cheated. My life was this beautiful vase...just what I always wanted...and in an instant, that vase was thrown to the ground and immediately shattered into a million tiny pieces. I didn't know how I was ever going to pick all of those pieces up and put them back together. I was so angry that my vase was broken...I didn't want to have to fix it. And the harsh reality was that vase was permanently broken...and it would never be the same. So...I had two choices: leave the broken pieces all over the floor and wallow in my sorrows, or put the pieces back together and create a different, but equally beautiful vase. Obviously, I chose the latter.

In this book, the author, Heather Avis, says, "I didn't know then that easy and normal and nice would do little to build my character or make me a better and more complete human being. Somewhere off the rose-petal path where easy, normal, and nice bloom, true beauty lives in the muck. But only the lucky few of us who step off the path will find it. My luck began when God picked me up off the comfortable path I had paved for myself and drop-kicked me into the mud. In the beginning, all I wanted to see was the grime on my clothes and the dirt on my hands. But because of God's grace, I finally stopped looking for a way back to my own plans. And the farther I stepped from that pretty path of easy, normal, and nice, the more clearly I could see the beauty he was creating all around me."

Colton's diagnosis was the hardest thing that's ever happened to me...but it's also been the best thing that's ever happened to me. I never knew how strong I was. I never knew how much I needed God. The only way to survive this is WITH HIM. I trust that His plans are greater than my plans. My relationship with God has strengthened so much throughout this journey. Almost every Sunday during worship, my eyes well up with tears and I get a knot in my throat...but not because I'm sad...because I'm so thankful that He knew how much I needed Colton. If I was the author of my story, Colton wouldn't have been in it...and now, I can't imagine my story without him. God knows best....and at times, we don't know how He's going to take our current struggle and make it into something beautiful...but He will. You just have to Trust Him and be patient.

My sister-in-law sent me a text last week after Colton's Cardiology appointment. It was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me about Colton and my blog. She said, "I appreciate your blog more than you could imagine because it strangely makes me feel more connected to God. Colton's smile and seemingly unaffected spirits demonstrates His presence more than I have ever experienced. It's like Colton knows something we don't. Looking into your child's beautiful smiling face tells me that he's going to be just fine and God has a plan in action that we can't quite see yet."

At the beginning of this journey, I didn't feel so "lucky." I was forced "off the comfortable path" and led into the unknown and I was terrified. But it has inspired me to share Colton's story and life with you through this blog. And I hope and pray that it helps you to feel God's presence like it does for my sister-in-law. I have come to realize that when I gave birth to Colton, I actually hit the jackpot...and I am forever inducted into a club that goes by the name, "The Lucky Few."