Welcome To Holland

Joel was ten days old when his temperature sky-rocketed and his poor, little body began to seize. The viral infection he had developed damaged his brain and he was left with cerebral palsy. As the birth of this baby draws near, I can't help but think about all the things that might possibly go wrong that could leave her disabled. At the same time, I find myself thinking that if God wants to give us another child with a disability, he would be giving her to the right people. Don't get me wrong...I would be devastated at the loss of a "normal" life for my baby, but after spending ten years with Joel, I know for a fact that there is beauty and richness in a life such as his.

A few years ago, I read a short, sweet story called "Welcome To Holland". It summed up what life is like when you are raising a child with a disability. It doesn't matter how many times I read it, it always brings a tear to my eye:

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.