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What is the True Value of Life? by Diane Lichtenburg
I have a special story to share, which brings the value of each person’s life alive in an even deeper way. After 2 miscarriages in 2008, God blessed our family with Timothy Richard on August 11, 2009. He has Down Syndrome. He is an incredible blessing and a joy to me and to our whole family!! Look at the picture above. See how his face lights up. He breaks into the most tremendous smiles that I’ve ever seen!! I am so excited to see how God will show His love through Timothy. I believe he will show God’s love to others without inhibitions. I believe he will be more pure in motive than I could ever hope to be, and I believe that I will be humbled and learn an incredible amount from Timothy!! Timothy has already had some challenges. When he was born, he ended up on oxygen in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, because his lungs weren’t fully developed (even though he was full term and over eight pounds). He had pulmonary hypertension due to his lack of lung capacity. In the NICU, I learned an invaluable lesson of which I continue to remind myself. There was a particular baby across from Timothy who did not receive visits (as far as I had seen) from his parents. I was at the hospital for a good number of hours each day, and day after day I never saw this child’s parents. I felt very sad for this child. But, as I watched the skilled nurses snuggle him, feed him, and hold him against their body as if he was their own, I was amazed!! I looked around at some of the very tiny babies that had been born a month or more premature. I suddenly realized that aside from God deciding to take one of these precious children to be with Him, their survival was dependent upon the nurture, love, and medical care that they received!! At that moment, I suddenly realized how important my job as a mother was!! I amazingly realized that my efforts of nurturing, loving, and attentive care taking of my children was invaluable!! If they could die from lack of love and affection (since the nurses purposefully spent the extra time to cuddle the babies whose parents weren’t around), then how could the love and nurture that they’re given ever be awarded a price tag? Life is priceless, and so is our efforts as mothers!! When I was pregnant with Timothy, we did not know that he had Down Syndrome. We did not have an amniocentesis done, and the ultrasound did not show any abnormalities. As a matter-of-fact, he moved around so much that the ultrasound technician mentioned that she could hardly record his measurements and other various information! Even though I didn’t know that Timothy had Down Syndrome, the Lord prepared me with the words to speak to my nurse for when Timothy would be born. I was still initially surprised when I looked into his eyes and realized that he had Down Syndrome, but then I was full of joy and hopeful expectation of how he would change our lives for the better! I was able to tell the nurse how God had prepared me for Timothy’s arrival and how He had given me a willing spirit to have a child with a disability! I am still amazed as I type this!! It was shortly after, that I began to realize that my greatest sense of worth is when I am not trying to be anything other than God’s servant! When I focus on loving and serving my husband, my children, and others – without wanting recognition or appreciation – I am so free and feel incredibly blessed that God allows me to do His work and allows me to be a vessel that His love can flow through to others in need. These are my greatest accomplishments -- when I choose to become nothing so God can be everything to me and to everyone whose life I touch! In the same way, any child with disabilities is just as priceless, because God created him or her!! God prepared me for Timothy’s arrival by helping me to pray for a willing heart to have a child with disabilities. Sherry Bushnell (whom I first “met” through a story she wrote which was published in an Above Rubies magazine) had stated in a document that I had read, that one should be willing to adopt children with disabilities. So, I prayed that the Lord would help us to be willing to adopt a child with disabilities. I realized that it would be easier to do this if we had already experienced one of our own, so I prayed that the Lord would open our hearts to be willing to have a child born with a disability of some sort, if that was His will. There are times that I feel discouraged about our situation. I counter this attack from the enemy reminding myself that Jesus stayed under His Father’s authority and obeyed Him. I look up a verse to take this truth into my heart. Philippians 2:5-8 comes alive in my heart: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Suddenly, my prideful heart is exposed. At the root of my desires for an income, a title, recognition, power, and authority is really my pride!! I confess my sins to the Lord and realize that I’ve bought into the lie (again) of valuing worldly approval versus God’s approval. I am put to shame when I really try to grasp what Jesus gave up to come to this earth and be the Savior of the world!! As He speaks to me through His Word and by His Holy Spirit, I realize that my value is in the fact that Jesus loves me, lives in me, and works through me!! I realize that my value is in the fact that He created me!!! Wow! God has truly given me an unquenchable desire and passion to help Timothy feel His love and acceptance! I am still amazed at how excited I am to see what Timothy will do and say and how he’ll help others to know the love of Jesus! God put a song in my heart that I wrote down while I was in the NICU with Timothy while he was sleeping. I would like to record this song and give it to birthing centers across the United States for free, so they can give it to anyone who has a child born with Down Syndrome or any other disability. It helped me when we received a packet of information at the hospital from the Down Syndrome Association for free, but they didn’t include anything about how God values each life. My hope and prayer is that this song will touch many lives with an understanding of the tremendously special blessing that they have been given in a child with disabilities.
Here is Timothy’s Song When I looked into your eyes and realized that God had a special plan for your life; it meant more to me than I can say, more to me than I can say… Refrain: Because I knew that you would help us to grow, and I knew that you would let your love flow in ways I’d never known. I can’t wait to take you home. I get excited to learn what you will like to do. It’s a privilege for us to take care of you. You’ll be such a joy to have with us, such a joy to have with us… Refrain: Because I know that you will help us to grow, and I know that you will let your love flow in ways I’ve never known. I can’t wait to take you home.
When the challenges come to us along the way, I want to see them through God’s eyes everyday. We can reach new heights of faith and love, reach new heights of faith and love…
(Note: If you are interested in making a donation for the production and free distribution of "Timothy's Song", please send your donation to NATHHAN / CHASK, with a note in the Memo portion of your check stating that it's for "Timothy's Song". )
It is already so fun to see the improvements Timothy is making in strength and ability! I appreciate it so much more than I did with our other nine children, because I’m not taking it for granted! For Timothy, holding his head up at first was a challenge. But, as we incorporated the exercises that an Occupational Therapist from the hospital (who also cross functions as a Physical Therapist) showed me to do, he has improved by leaps and bounds!! Now, he is almost sitting up by himself and can do various other activities! How exciting!!
Shortly after Timothy was born, woman asked me if we were going to have any more children. Before I had a chance to answer, she said, "Probably not, right?" Understanding her confusion, I responded to her with an emphatic, "I hope that God will bless us with more children! I don't believe that Timothy is a mistake. I believe that God chose to make him the way he is." I went on to tell her that I believed that Timothy will bless many people and be able to show love to others in ways that we can't, because he won't have the same inhibitions. I told her how I've always been blessed when I see people with Down Syndrome, because I usually see a huge smile on their face, and they have a special innocence that we don't. She agreed. Thank you for helping people who need encouragement to understand the blessing of each child regardless of capabilities. For our worth and value is not in what we achieve in life, but in surrendering ourselves to being the person God created us to be and letting His love flow through our lives to touch others, as I’m learning!
David - Electrical
Engineer/Project Manager
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