Our newest grandchild arrived at the end of January. She’s 8 1/2 pounds and 20 1/2 inches of pure snuggle sprinkled with dark, curly hair. Because her parents and brother live in the apartment below us, we see and hold her almost every day. Her life thus far has been free of special needs or disabilities, other than tummy distress and a nasty diaper rash after her mommy ingests soy.

Even so, her tiny presence continually brings to mind 4 truths I wish someone had spoken into the whirlwind of our son’s special needs diagnosis in the hours after his birth.

1. Parents must embrace the now. After our son was born, I traded the joy of his now for worries about his future. Instead of reveling in the opportunities we had to cuddle him, I resented the times we couldn’t hold him close. Instead of drinking in his presence, I only thought of how empty life would be if he died. I forgot that the life God had given him, though its early days weren’t what we expected, was still a valuable and precious life. If you are a new parent, I urge you to embrace the now that is your child’s life. Live every second, minute, hour, and day your child is with you to the fullest, and leave the future to the future.

To read the rest of this post visit Key Ministry’s  Special Needs Parenting blog.

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