As Christmas draws near, guest blogger Steph Ballard shares a gift treasured dearly by every parent of a child with special needs–the gift of perfect imperfection.

The Gift of Perfect Imperfection

I thought I knew what perfect was.
I’d flip through magazines
Dazzled by each page I saw–
Models and beauty queens.

Surely, they must have it all
Not one trait to despise
And then came you to show me
The world through new eyes.

As Christmas Day draws closer
With every red and green hue
I see things even more clearly–
My best gift has always been you.

The gift was in my first glimpse
Into your isolette
Learning to love–with words alone–
I could not hold you yet.

The gift was in your tiny heart
We prayed could be repaired,
Asking for so many prayers
And knowing people cared.

The gift was when your surgeon came
And told us you would live.
Knowing if we got this chance
There’s nothing we wouldn’t give.

The gift was in that feeding tube
And tape marks on your cheek,
And even in your careful steps
With muscles labeled “weak.”

The gift was when you tried to talk.
I prayed you’d grow and thrive.
The gift is in that long thin scar
Because you are alive.

The gift is watching your chest rise and fall–
You’re sleeping peacefully–
It’s also in the lives that you’ve touched
And how much you’ve changed me.

The gift is in the friends I’ve made–
I never would have guessed–
And every single day we have
Reminding me I’m blessed.

The gift is that I need no words
To help me understand
That my child has a purpose.
His life’s divinely planned.

The world sees the best gifts
In many ways unspoken,
But in my heart I know God sees
The gift in what’s broken.

Not the perfect body
Or words, or job, or face.
The gift is when we lean on Him
And learn to see His grace.

We still do not know
What our future brings
But I now see the the best gifts
In the everyday things.

The best and most beautiful things in the world
cannot be seen or even touched –
they must be felt with the heart.
~Helen Keller

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