I missed World Down Syndrome Day again. It is always March 21, which represents the three copies of chromosome 21 (3/21 – get it?) that is unique to people with Down syndrome.
But my friend, Justin Reimer, didn’t forget and had a good word for World Down Syndrome Day from his own experience with his oldest son Eli:
(D)isability is prominent but not primary in our family. Meaning that disability is obviously in our midst, but Jesus is primary to our existence as individuals, a family, and the Body of Christ. A real mercy to us has been seeing (his children’s) childlike understanding that our sovereign, gracious, and all-powerful God has intended Down Syndrome for our good and God’s glory. We know that we have a long way to go in our parenting, but it has been a great encouragement to see that disability has not served as a wedge between our children and the character of God. No, far from it. Down Syndrome, and disability in general, has been more of a fulcrum with a lever gloriously weighted towards the goodness of God manifest even in the most broken of lives.
So on this day our family stands blessed, changed, and more like Jesus (with a long ways to go) in part because he knit Eli together in his mother’s womb with Down Syndrome. Thank you, Jesus!
Justin Reimer, Executive Director, The Elisha Foundation on World Down Syndrome Day, March 21, 2012
May we all feel the glorious weight of the goodness of God today!
The Works of God 
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