On Faith and Disability…

This post is part of a blog hop specifically geared towards Down Syndrome.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith. It has guided my path my whole life. It has been an integral aspect of who I am since before I even knew who God was…not that I fully know even now. Faith – it is a powerful word that emotes hope when the world crumbles around you. Faith, always needing more, always enough.

It may seem redundant but I am once again taken back to the darkness of that first night with Ella. I knew and yet, I had faith. I had hope. I could not see the future nor did I know what any of it meant but I promised to take care of her, this baby entrusted to me, by God.

To be honest disability has little to do with it. Even as I faced the harsh reality of her disability last week when I was told that the nursery at Jakob’s school would not be able to accommodate her, disability had little to do with faith. 

You see, we all suffer disabilities in the sight of God. We all have our flaws, we are all finite humans. Ella’s disabilities just happen to be stapled to her forehead sealed with a flattened bridge but they mean so little in light of faith. The conviction of things unseen. Just because she carries one extra chromosome in every cell of her body does not mean that I hope any less for her than I do Jakob. I am sure that she will graduate from high school, have friends and love God. I have conviction that she will be expected to try her best and do what is right and I hope that she will experience independence, love and faith that will carry her through, just like it has me.

What is disability?

Is it just me or don’t we all have one disability or another?

For some it is a speech impediment and for others it is lack of faith.

And with each disadvantage comes other advantages. I can only hope that for Ella, she experiences the advantage of a simpler faith than her momma – one that trusts God more fully, and more freely.