Trisomy 21 Mothering | Jamie Smith

Jamie shares her heart about mothering her daughter who has Down Syndrome.

My husband had gone home to get our other two children. I had just quoted Psalm 139:13-18 to Elena (…for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…my frame was not hidden from Thee when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth…), when the doctor on call, came in to tell me he thought there was something wrong - that she likely had Down’s syndrome. I was in tears when my husband returned with our children. He asked what was wrong. When I told him she has Down's syndrome, he took her in his arms and, through his tears, immediately responded, "She's still beautiful to me." And he has continued throughout her life to treat her with that kind of affection.

God created a perfect world of beauty for which mankind could live. All the natural disasters and violence in this world are a result of sin. I don’t believe God deliberately created Elena with the ‘flaw’ of Down’s syndrome. I believe, as with all things that bring us heartache or pain, it is a result of our fallen sin nature. And just as Christ wept with Mary at the death of Lazarus, I believe He grieved with me as I grieved over the limitations with which Elena would deal. But, He brings us good even through our pain.