{"id":358,"date":"2010-09-08T13:56:14","date_gmt":"2010-09-08T13:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/perfectly-human-happy-birthday-daughter-by-karen-jackson.html"},"modified":"2010-09-08T13:56:14","modified_gmt":"2010-09-08T13:56:14","slug":"perfectly-human-happy-birthday-daughter-by-karen-jackson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/perfectly-human-happy-birthday-daughter-by-karen-jackson.html","title":{"rendered":"Perfectly Human: Happy Birthday, Daughter by Karen Jackson"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"samantha.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Samantha: <\/b><\/p>\n


\nThirteen years ago, God gave you to us; a beautiful, perfect little baby girl
\nwith blue eyes and a heart shaped face. <\/span>Your dad and I rejoiced at adding another child to our family and giving
\nyour brother Joseph a younger sibling. <\/span>How could we have known then what a huge impact you would make on us all?<\/b><\/p>\n

When we got the
\nnews that you might have autism, I cried and cried. <\/span>It seemed my grief would overwhelm me. <\/span>I still remember pushing you on
\nyour swing outside when you were eighteen-months old, just praying and praying
\nthat you would say one word, any word that I could understand. <\/span>While all my friends had children
\nstarting to say “Mama” and even talking in sentences, you were silent, only
\noccasionally singing phrases from children’s songs.<\/b><\/p>\n

God had a plan,
\nthough and He has turned my grief into joy. <\/span>Yes, you still struggle to say even one word, but what you
\nhave taught me goes beyond words.<\/b><\/p>\n

You have taught me
\nto accept people with differences, to see past their physical or developmental challenges
\nand get to know them.<\/b><\/p>\n

You have taught me
\nto truly rely on my faith because in your challenges, as well as mine, I have
\nlearned to rely on God, giving Him the glory and praise always.<\/b><\/p>\n

You have taught me
\nhow to trust, even when a situation is scary, because God will always be there
\nfor us, and He will not let us suffer needlessly.<\/b><\/p>\n

You have taught me
\nto be grateful, not taking the “normal” things of life for granted but
\nappreciating the little miracles; the accomplishment of small but significant
\ngoals, your sense of humor, your hugs and kisses.<\/b><\/p>\n

Today, you turn
\nthirteen-years old. Still a beautiful child with intense blue eyes that look
\nright though to my heart. <\/span>I love
\nyou more than I could ever say and I know, even though you only speak the words
\nin an echo of mine, that you love me too.<\/b><\/p>\n

Happy Birthday
\nsweet child. Thank you for all you have taught me and continue to teach me.<\/b><\/p>\n

Love, <\/b><\/p>\n

Mom<\/b><\/p>\n


<\/b><\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

Karen Jackson is founder and director of Faith Inclusion
\nNetwork of South Hampton Roads, a coalition of area faith communities and
\ndisability service providers providing support for the inclusion of people with
\ndisabilities in places of worship. 
\nShe, her husband Scott and three children reside in Norfolk, VA.<\/i><\/p>\n


\n<\/b><\/p>\n

Perfectly Human is a regular weekly feature on this blog. To read other entries, visit the box in the upper right hand corner.<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Samantha:  Thirteen years ago, God gave you to us; a beautiful, perfect little baby girl with blue eyes and a heart shaped face. Your dad and I rejoiced at adding another child to our family and giving your brother Joseph a younger sibling. How could we have known then what a huge impact you would make…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2,6,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disability","category-faith","category-family","category-perfectly-human"],"yoast_head":"\nPerfectly Human: Happy Birthday, Daughter by Karen Jackson - Thin Places<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/09\/perfectly-human-happy-birthday-daughter-by-karen-jackson.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Perfectly Human: Happy Birthday, Daughter by Karen Jackson - Thin Places\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear Samantha:  Thirteen years ago, God gave you to us; 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Her essays have appeared in First Things, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Christian Century, ChristianityToday.com, and Bloom, among other online venues.","sameAs":["http:\/\/amyjuliabecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/author\/amyjuliabecker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}