Every Gift of God Is Perfect

God has given an extra special gift to our family in the form of a down syndrome little baby girl.


(We didn't know right away after the birth, and had already called a few people to announce the birth before we found out. That's why some of you got calls that didn't mention this.)

We are so blessed! God has entrusted us with the care of this precious baby! So many of these babies are aborted. The Lord has blessed us with one of these children to love, nurture, and cherish!
I sat down this evening and looked up some verses for this post. I found so many, and have included those that especially spoke to my heart. A few songs came to mind, too, in the course of writing all of this down.

The Lord has blessed us in so many ways over the past few years. He has shown us many things and brought each of us closer to Him and His Word.
From the beginning, we have realized God may send us a down syndrome child. We have been praying that His will would be done.
At the same time, we prayed that God would give us the grace for whatever child He saw fit to bless us with.
Our trust is in the Lord, and we know that He will provide. Mom and Dad surrendered their lives to the Lord, and we know that He is faithful.
One of the first things that Mom said was that this baby will draw our family even closer together.
This baby is going to be such a blessing! While we are being brought closer to each other, we will all grow closer to God - individually and as a family. I'm sure that the Lord will use Katelyn to change each of us in ways that I don't think we can even imagine now.
We don't know what the Lord has in store for little Katelyn's life. Our prayer is that God will use her to draw many people to Him.
Changes will come, we know. Changes are already here. There will be health issues to deal with. There is danger of pneumonia, especially during the first year.
We love this little girl so much already. She's absolutely adorable. No one can appreciate a little newborn sneeze unless they have seen and heard it firsthand as I have tonight! And the way she smiles in her sleep ... oh, it's just precious!

We're excited to take on this new challenge for the glory of God. Yet it is only through His strength that anything can be accomplished. Our trust is in Him.
We believe that for the past few years the Lord has been preparing our home and our family for this little one. Our friendship with the Royals has allowed us to see firsthand the joys the Lord sends with a down syndrome child. Our midwife is connecting us with several other Christian mothers of downs children in the area. One of these mothers is coming to the house Saturday at 1 pm to talk with us and give us some practical advice. We can just see how God has been orchestrating everything!
We are truly grateful for His leading and direction. He knows the end from the beginning, and He has a perfect plan for us.
We ask that you would please pray for us and for Katelyn. Pray for her health. Pray for guidance for Mom and Dad. Pray that the Lord would send all of grace and strength. And pray that each of us would grow in the Lord.

~ Lauren, for the whole Family