Pancakes and Birth "Defects"

Ya know...there are just some days when I wish everyone could be a witness for what goes in in my life. I promise, I don't make this stuff up.

I mean, most of my days are what people would consider "mundane," or repetitive...not too exciting. And, hey, I get that. Nothing exciting about doing laundry or making dinner. Nothing exciting about talking about the bad weather. Nothing exciting about answering some of the same questions over and over and over.

But Joshua teaches me something nearly every day. Most of the time, he teaches me about God and His ways, and how very tender He is to us. Some of the time, parenting Joshua shows me how much I lack. God, please make us worthy of this calling, because half the time we wonder what in the world we are even doing. And all of the time, parenting Joshua shows me how very much I need God's wisdom, discernment and grace.

What Joshua taught me today? It cracked me UP. Just wait, because I'm 99.9% sure it's something you've never heard of or thought about before. There's your tease for tomorrow.

On Monday, we basically stayed close to home. Joshua loves Mondays, because he says he can "sleep in." This is a HUGE JOKE, because he gets up every day at the crack-of-dawn. In fact, it's something I say to him every Sunday night as he heads upstairs to bed. I'll say, "don't get up at the crack of dawn." And he will look at me with "the face" and say, "on a MONday? Why would I?"

But, Tuesday morning was a different story. He is always up at the crack-of-dawn when he is going to Therapeutic Recreation, because he can't wait to see all the FRIENDS. We got all ready to go. I remembered that his group was going out for lunch. Due to poor planning on my part (and the fact that I only got the weekly schedule late on Monday afternoon), I only had $5 in cash, so I was going to need to run by the bank before we left. Unless...

I asked, "Joshua, do you have any money?" He said, "I have an emergency $20 in my wallet." Even tho this didn't qualify as an emergency...SCORE! I just don't keep cash. I told him I would pay him back this afternoon.

I know. Proud parent moment.

On the way into Little Rock, Joshua talked and talked and talked...which I will share about tomorrow. But before he started into THAT, tho, he was reading his Facebook news-feed...out-loud...in the car. He told me that it was World Birth Defects Day.

Seriously?

I know that every syndrome, challenge, club, disease, and support group has a "day" now. They have ribbons and buttons and t-shirts to raise support and awareness about their cause. I think this is so good, because it gives people a voice, and support, and it fights the isolation that so many people often feel. If I had a ribbon for everything that affected just our family and friends, I would be covered from head to toe.

We've all got "ish-ahs," am I right?

I think we, as a society, go overboard trying to be all PC about everything. I mean, we can't see a pink lady and call her a pink lady. She knows she's pink...we know she's pink...e'erbody knows she's pink...but if we refer to her as pink, we will be labeled a racist and signed up for diversity training classes. If we describe someone as "tall and thin," we will be accused of bullying, and all parties involved will be ordered into counseling.

Sheesh.

But can we all just agree that the word "defect" should not ever be used when referring to a person?

You can have a "defective" part on your lawnmower. You can have a "defective" car battery. You can even have a "defective" heart valve.

There are no "defective" people. No ma'am.

I just think there's got to be a better way to say things, and someone way smarter and more eloquent than me needs to figure that one out. Because no one wants to be labeled or defined by any challenges they may have.

So, I asked Joshua, "what do you think that means?" And he said, "I don't know...but I'm glad I never had it!"

That's right, baby...fearfully and wonderfully made.

"I will praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14