Penny and I walked into a local clothing store over the weekend, and a woman stopped us and said, “Wait, are you Amy Julia Becker? And you must be Penny!”
She was a mom of a four-year-old with Down syndrome who bounded into the store with her. He was full of energy and eager to tell us that he had “ten sleeps” until his next birthday (even though he also told us his birthday was in December). She told me that our story had been a help when he was first born.
A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny turned 15 on September 1. I love that these reflections on the early years of Penny’s life and what it took for us to receive her as the gift she is still ring true today. When we ran into that mom and her son, I mentioned that Penny is now attending a college program that hadn’t even existed when she was four years old. I love trying to imagine the good things that might be available in this little boy’s future. And I love that our story might help her imagine some of that goodness.
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Amy Julia Becker desires to challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and help us envision and build a world of belonging where everyone matters. Amy Julia invites people to reimagine the good life through her writing and speaking on disability, faith, and culture. She is the author of several books, including To Be Made Well, White Picket Fences, Small Talk, and A Good and Perfect Gift. She is a guest opinion writer for national publications and hosts two podcasts: Take the Next Step and Reimagining the Good Life. Becker is a graduate of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv). She is a member of the Disability Ministry Network and the Alliance for Disability Justice and Ethics in Reproductive Genetics. She lives with her husband and their three children in western Connecticut.
