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Thin Places

I’ve found myself in the center of a squall this past week. A squall of my own making. When I wrote about my choice not to screen the baby in my womb for Down syndrome, I didn’t expect it to draw any attention other than readers of this blog. But Lisa Belkin, of the New…

Jenni Newbury writes about life with a younger brother with Down syndrome.  I don’t remember life before Jason was born. I imagine I enjoyed my two years as an only child, but I simply have no recollection of life without him. The memories I do have include:pulling Jason across our tile floor to hear him…

In a recent Motherlode post, I wrote about our decision to forgo prenatal testing for Down syndrome with my third pregnancy. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend prenatal screening for all pregnant women, and I am at “higher risk” for having a child with Down syndrome, due to the fact that our eldest…

I have a new post at Bloom: Parenting Kids with Disabilities. It’s called “Not so Funny” and it begins:  I absorb a lot of news every week. We listen to National Public Radio morning and evening. We subscribe to Time, The New Yorker, and the Sunday New York Times. I read a handful of blogs…

Last week, a number of readers posted “questions for God.” Some of them can be answered by looking at specific passages from the Gospels. Others require a bigger picture view of the Bible and Christian theology. Over the course of the fall, on Tuesdays, I will look at the following questions that people ask Jesus:…

This morning I was interviewed on WNYC’s “The Takeaway,” a Public Radio International Program. To listen to the clip, click here. The interview discusses my own views and experience of prenatal testing with all three pregnancies, and it also includes a discussion with sociologist Barbara Katz Rothman, who provides an explanation for why prenatal testing…

I mentioned earlier this week that I had an article at Motherlode, the Parenting blog of the New York Times: Deciding Not to Screen for Down Syndrome. Since the article was posted on Tuesday evening, there have been 133 comments that range from supportive of our decisions, opposed to them, and everything in between. If…

My mother gardens. She has gorgeous flower beds. Everywhere. Zinnias and lilies and hostas and petunias and daffodils and flowers whose names I’ve never learned. When I was little, our backyard had more sunlight than it does now, so she also grew green beans and tomatoes and squash and zucchini and lettuce and herbs. I…

When I was little, I thought being a Christian meant going to church with my family. If pressed, I probably would have added some thoughts about the 10 Commandments and being nice, and I probably would have mentioned Jesus.   Then, when I was fifteen, I had my first experience with the Holy Spirit. I…

We arrive home from school around noon and I’m already tired as I change Asher’s pull-up and make his lunch. Then I once again hoist the weight of his 50-pound body against mine, and I carry him to his high chair.  He always immediately shouts out, “BOOOOK!” And I of course oblige and read him the…
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