I was lining up for the Tuesday special at Taco Bell, and overheard the lady next to me making her order with what seemed like forced extra-polite English. I looked over and noticed she was an older Asian lady, and figured she must have immigrated here not too long ago, and imagined what a difficult life it must have been integrating into a new country.
Then I realized she was with her daughter who was probably in her late twenties… with very obvious Down syndrome. It hit me that I had no idea just how hard her life has been and the disappointing realities she must have struggled with.
The lady was gently guiding her daughter though the ordering and payment process at the Taco Bell.
My heart just broke for them.
Not because of the situation they were in, but because I could see the decades of care and concern her mother had for her.
The daughter’s core identity was not that of a Down syndrome sufferer, but a child deeply loved and adored.
Ain’t that the truth about God and all His children?
Two babies are in intensive care, one that will only survive if given a new heart; another with a strong heart, but no chance of survival.
The latter child, Kaylee, was taken off life support, so that her heart could be donated to baby Lillian. Kaylee shocks doctors as she hangs on to life, and according to hospital protocol she can no longer be a candidate for organ donation.
The longer Kaylee stays alive, the less viable her heart becomes for transplant.
Kaylee’s father is quoted as being very upset, not because his child remains alive, but because his daughter’s heart is still good, and their only comfort would be to donate it to baby Lillian who is desperately in need of a new heart.
Besides all the legal and ethical implications of all of this, a few thoughts…
What must it be like, to hope for the death of your own child, so that another might live?
What must it be like to want to give the most precious gift possible (the very heart of your own child), and not be able to do so?
When God and all his angels watched Christ die upon the cross, was there any doubt that life could only come through death?
If this transplant ever does go through, what would it be like for Kaylee’s parents, seeing that other child as they grow up? I imagine some type of deep and special connection, knowing that their dead child’s heart, remains alive beating within another little girl.
Could that be the way God the Father sees us, knowing that a part of his son and his sacrifice, beats within all of us?
