*photos by Vick Photography
Luke came out of his bedroom, shoulders shrugged, head down, fireman pajamas on, and filled with feelings of hurt for his little brother. He noticed that some people were staring at Jack earlier that day. “I felt like some kids were looking at Jack like he was ‘weird’ or ‘ugly’.” He went on to explain that he was angry and just wanted to hurt them because of what they were doing. Oh my mama heart. Deep breath and respond.
“Well, Luke, you know how you have some friends that have different color skin and/or speak a different language than you? Well, think of someone that had never met somebody with different color skin or heard a different language spoken. They probably would be interested or curious also. It could be similar with people that haven’t met someone with Down syndrome before, so they may have questions. Remember what we said about “EVERYBODY MATTERS”? That we believe everyone was made in the image of God and it doesn’t matter what they look like, the way they talk, the color of their skin, the number of chromosomes they have, they are fearfully and wonderfully made. All of them matter to God, to their families, and deserve to be loved, valued, and respected. Each of these people that look at Jack a little longer or make comments, they just don’t know him and ultimately we get a chance to share with them that Jack is a brother, a son, a grandson, a classmate, a teammate, and so many other things just like you and I. We’re okay with Jack having Down syndrome, so really that’s all that matters. Same for us, if we remember that all of us are God’s masterpiece created with a purpose, it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks of us. Isn’t it awesome that Jack has reminded us to realize that every person matters and that differences make the world a beautiful place? We’ve learned a lot from him, huh?”
