I see a bright future

I follow a few blogs written by other moms who have a child with Down Syndrome.  The other day I was catching up with one of these blogs and saw a video that had been posted a few weeks ago.  After watching it, I was so happy.  It is a video about a 22 year old girl with Down Syndrome and the amazing things she is doing with her life.  I cried while I was watching it.  I showed it to my husband and he cried.  They were happy tears for both of us.  I think the tears come because we vividly remember a doctor confirming Ashlyn's diagnosis and all that we felt.  In many ways, I know there were parts of us at that time that thought the future was anything but bright.  That is why when we see a video like this, we cry.  We cry because it is like God sending us a tangible piece of hope.  I think we also cry because it is like we are looking at our daughter and that makes us so happy.  Take a look.....



I was so happy after watching that video, because that girl is happy!  She is full of joy!  Who doesn't want that for any of their children, Down Syndrome or not?  I loved it because I could so see something like this in Ashlyn's future because she loves music.  Anytime there is music on or someone is singing to her, she is so happy.  I was so encouraged because of how well this girl spoke....so clear and well spoken (and even a little bit of a cute southern accent, since she is from South Carolina).  Troy and I looked at each other after watching it, just completely amazed.  No one can watch a video and say that is exactly what their child's future will be like, but we can see that having a child with Down Syndrome could mean a really, really bright future. 

This video made me cry happy tears because I saw a beautiful girl with Down Syndrome who was doing something she loved, bringing joy to others and radiating joy and happiness herself.  We should all be so fortunate.  At the end of the day who really cares who has the most money, nicest house or the fanciest job title?  This video showed me a picture of what true joy looks like even though there was a time when I thought there was no way a diagnosis of Down Syndrome could have anything to do with joy.  God works like that....takes something you think will be mostly full of pain and heartache and stamps His joy all over it.