Today is the beginning of Down Syndrome Awareness Month.
In a world of distraction, I’m thinking about what happens when we pay attention to the beauty and hardship and possibility and struggle embodied in the global population of people with Down syndrome.
I’ve paid attention to our daughter with Down syndrome for 18 years now. Little did I know how much she would shape the way I see myself, see others, and see the world. Little did I know how much she would invite me not only to see differently, but to be in this world differently. To move from treating relationships as transactions to receiving them as gifts. To move from individualism to community. From jealousy and judgment to compassion and celebration. From proving myself to being myself. From using others to caring for others.
Down Syndrome Awareness Month might sound like a marketing gimmick. It’s really an invitation to reorient our lives around love.
MORE WITH AMY JULIA:
- Workshop: Reimagining Family Life with Disability
- FREE RESOURCE: 10 Way to Move Toward a Good Future (especially for families affected by disability)
- Book: A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny
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