I feel really honored and grateful whenever new mothers, fathers, and extended family members of kids with Down syndrome tell me that they have read A Good and Perfect Gift and that it resonated with their experience. I’ve heard over and over again that they also felt the confusing mix of love and grief, fear and wonder, guilt and hope, that coursed through me in the early weeks and months of receiving Penny into the world and that this book was like a friend sitting with them through that journey.
That said, my primary intention in writing A Good and Perfect Gift was not to walk alongside people who had children with Down syndrome. My primary intention was to convey to people who would never have the experience of raising a child with Down syndrome all the good gifts we received when Penny came into our lives. I wanted to explain to my over-acheiving perfectionist peers how much we have to gain when we recognize the value of the diverse and glorious human beings all around us, how much we have to learn when we trade competition for community, how much we have to celebrate when we understand perfection in a new way.
Penny taught me that perfection was not about conforming without flaw or blemish to an objective standard. Perfection was about becoming who I was created to be, living into my God-given purpose. Perfection was helping her live into who she was created to be, in her own vulnerable and beautiful humanity.
In honor of Down Syndrome Awareness Month, I’m giving away three copies of A Good and Perfect Gift. Now that my daughter is 13, she’s been doing a bit of writing herself and she and I will both include personal notes to the winners of the giveaway. If you’re a new family member of a child with Down syndrome, I hope this book blesses you on your journey and gives you a peek of the joy that awaits. But if you are not a family member of a person with Down syndrome, and especially if you’re ever identified as a perfectionist or over-acheiver, I wrote this book for you.
Details for Giveaway:
Head over to my Instagram account. Follow me and like the post entitled “Giveaway.” Then comment on the post tagging two Instagram friends who might be interested and use the hashtag #GoodandPerfectGiveaway. You have to October 30, 2019 at 9pm EST to enter. Winners will be announced the next day!
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