Our story starts with a single extra chromosome.
The medical profession refers to this phenomenon as Down syndrome. We know it to be a miracle for our daughter is the most perfect gift God gave us in disguise.
Although our initial daydreams of our baby girl were unexpectedly replaced by a plethora of prognoses, our lives have been enriched in a way that mere words cannot express.
We never imagined when we first heard the word "leukemia" that we would later refer to that year as the best and worst year of our lives. Cancer and all the uncertain darkness that envelopes the disease forced itself on our lives.
We felt fear, fatigue, loneliness, and at times hopelessness. But in the midst of the confines of a hospital room one morning, we chose to let our extra chromosome, and all of the trials that would come with it, be the guiding ankor for our lives, defining our purpose, transforming our perception, and fueling our strength.
Our daughter is our true north, a reminder that beauty will forever be in the eye of the beholder and a testimony that His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Our battles are not yet over. The unknown often seizes us with fear.
Yet we are encouraged our journey may inspire others to find unknown strength in the face of adversity and courage to transform their grain of sand into a beautiful, majestic pearl.
For we know, it is the darkest nights that give way to the brightest, most glorious dawns.
