Being told your child has down syndrome is never an easy thing to hear, and the same holds true for one mom featured in a powerful new Christmas video.
She explains the fears she experienced for her child, and how they were all wiped away while she watched her daughter re-enact the Christmas story. The powerful epiphany for one mom also serves as a reminder to us all that while some babies might appear to be less than perfect in the beginning – God doesn’t make mistakes.
The four minute video titled, “He Came Down” takes viewers through the emotional journey.
The Speaklife.org.uk Christmas inspired video begins with a mother sharing her personal story of coming to terms with birthing a child with down syndrome.
Saying, “it’s no one’s fault when someone is born with a disability. But you still feel like, ‘why did this happen to us?'”
As the scene scans past the family photographs and Christmas decor in the home, the viewer is taken into a car and along for a ride when the voices switch and a young girl takes over.
Once that happens, the audience sees the beginning of a nativity scene and a young girl says, “This Story of Christmas, we tell it in rhyme. Some actors have lines while some of us mime.”
While this is being said, a few mothers and children are showcased with smiles on their faces, interacting with their precious children.
Shortly after, the unidentified mother who opened the segment continues her story. Saying, “I was overwhelmed with grief at the loss. I thought, my beautiful baby has got down syndrome …and it is such a disaster.”
Then it heads to an alternative scene, which showcases a young boy coming in with a crown and then the audience hear’s a young girl’s voice, saying, “Meanwhile, great Caesar Augustus in Rome, made a decree, ‘Return to your home’ For Joseph this ruling meant Bethlehem…so they rode in on their donkey, all the way.”
Then the mother’s voice comes in again and says,”God didn’t give me a straightforward answer of why this happened. It took time for me to realise that God’s answer…it wasn’t so much what was wrong with Leeva…there was something wrong with the way I was thinking.”
The young female narrator continues back to the nativity story, where she states, “Mary was speechless. She didn’t know how these things could have happened…but still she bowed.”
Then the candid statements continue, when the mother states, “I think of Mary (Jesus’s mother), of all she goes through…It’s not her plan, it’s God’s plan – she just goes with it.”
Adding, “she’s humble, she’s calm, she’s reassured by the fact that everything is going to be okay.”
As the script in the Christmas related play continues so does the story and the mother’s explanation of God. Stating, “What we learned was that God was with us – God suffered with us…adding, “he gave us the most beautiful child and there was no reason for me to grieve or compare her, or – you know – feel sorry for her.”
The mother admitting that in her old view, she thought her daughter would “lack” and then explaining “she’s not lacking”.
As the video draws near to a close, it leaves us with the phrase “remember the one who came down to the manger” coming into view. A good reminder to all, no matter what struggles lay ahead.