Why not us?

I've been wanting to write this post for a while, but I finally have a few minutes when both kids are sleeping and I feel I have my thoughts better organized.

As a little background, our daughter Emily was born with a cleft palate (soft palate only; type: pierre robin sequence) and our second daughter Lydia was born with craniosynostosis (premature fusing of some of the cranial plates).  In the days after Lydia was diagnosed I hesitated to send out an update because I was concerned people would start thinking, "Wow, what's wrong with them?"  I have to confess that during the first few days I had this thought as well.  How did we get so "unlucky" to have two children with "problems?"  Why us?  However, the more I think about it, the more I think, "Why not us?"

Here are some statistics about birth defects (thanks to the March of Dimes and Center for Disease Control and Prevention):

Cleft lip/palate: 1 in 700 births
Craniosynostosis: 1 in 2,000 births
Down Syndrome: 1 in 800 births
Spina bifida: 1 in 2,500 births
Cerebal Palsy: approx: 1 in 500 births
Autism: approx. 1 in 150 births, (1 in 58 boys)
Heart defects: 1 in 100 births

In the United States, a baby is born with a birth defect every 4.5 minutes.  1 in 33 babies born in the United States has a birth defect.

After reading the section in What to Expect the First Year about common birth defects, I came to the realization what a true miracle it is to have a completely healthy child.  When you think of all the conditions that have to be just right for a baby to even be coceived, much less the millions of connections that happen in order to form an intricate person that can move and talk and think and feel; it's truly amazing.    
 
I guess it surprises me when people just assume that they will have a perfect child (or children) and look questioningly at those who don't.  Although we seem to have gotten more than our fair share as far as the statistics go, there's never a guarantee that your child will be normal.  Just ask the parents of Nick Vujicic (born with no limbs -- www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5Of0JlUstk&feature=related ) or Juliana Wetmore ("born without a face" -- www.julianawetmore.net/story.php).  Although each has faced difficulties, God has used them as an incredible witness for Him.  

We look forward to seeing how God will use Emily and Lydia's "problems" for His glory, especially among the people we work with in Brazil.  Typically in their culture, a baby born with any type of problem is not given a chance to live.  What a great witness our girls can be to show these people the value of life!

So please don't pity us or look down on us, but rejoice with us in our two girls who were perfectly created for His purpose.

~Kelli

"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."  -- John 9:2-3