Knox, the Great Reformer

John Knox was a great reformer during the protestant reformation in Scotland.  My husband was adopted but likes to believe he's Scottish.  (He watched Braveheart and felt William Wallace was a kindred spirit and besides . . . he  looks pretty fine in a kilt.) When deciding on names for our future progeny,  we chose strong Scottish monikers with complicated spellings.

When Shane called with the news that our agency had a baby for us with Down Syndrome and 3 congenital heart defects, fear hovered over my heart.  All of those times I had seen those parents, older parents with adult children with special needs came to the surface.  "Those poor people, they'll never get a break."  What would we do?  Could this baby ever pronounce the name we were giving him?  Should we pick another name? Will he walk?  Will he ever have a relationship with Grae?  Will Grae hate us for "doing" this to him.  I'm being brutally honest here.  Those fears hovered for a few hours, but never rested in my heart.

What quickly took their place was the peace that only God can give.  I'm not diminishing the grieving process that many parents go through in receiving a diagnosis, but I am saying that for me, God replaced those fears with Shane's unbridled optimism and excitement.  (I'm sure this is but one reason the Lord put us together.)  The Lord was the reformer of my heart, but His primary agent in doing it was Knox.  He quickly stole my heart with his precious tininess, and his typical baby-ness.

God has shown me through Knox that babies with Down Syndrome aren't all that different.  They come with their share of challenges, but also, it seems, with an extra measure of sweetness.  Yes, I will be that older parent in the store with my little helper, but I don't see it as a burden anymore.  What a blessing from the Lord!  Maybe he will keep my young and fresh, and remind me that the value of a person is not in their "productivity" or even their IQ, but in the content of their spirit and the image of God reflected in them.