New Eyes

My second son, Caleb, was diagnosed a few days after birth with full trisomy 13, a chromosomal abnormality characterized by serious health issues and profound developmental delay. At 8 years of age, my son is, developmentally speaking, only a few months old. Even though a couple soft markers had been observed on ultrasound prenatally, I believe his diagnosis came as a surprise to all, including doctors. Caleb was born strong for a trisomy 13 baby. Many die shortly after birth, or require very aggressive interventions to survive. Had he needed to be in the Intensive Care Unit, our story would probably be very different. Eight years ago, “the incompatible with life label” loomed even more menacingly than it does today in our hospital and everywhere else.   If I had to divide Caleb’s life in seasons, season number one would be a very difficult first year of life, which included frequent apnea spells for a week starting at 3 weeks of age (for which he spent two days in the hospital), fee

I wrote this poem in December of 2019 in response to the prompt to write my most recent experience of God watering my dried-up hope in an expected way. God in a cat… Giving me someone to take care of Someone to nurse and to keep warm Someone to reassure, “I am here. I will take care of you.” God in a cat… Giving me someone to hold Someone to caress Someone to sing to Someone to keep me awake at night God in a cat Watering my dried-up hope By a leap and sudden landing on my lap he breaks the spell of grief... Perhaps God's here with me Perhaps God knows and cares Note: I was praying, and crying, for Caleb during our Advent devotional when our cat, Tajín, suddenly leapt unto my lap. The association I make of God with a cat comes from the book  The Horse and His Boy from The Chronicles of Narnia where Aslan shows up as a barn cat to comfort the boy. God has used Tajín to comfort me more than once since Tajín showed up under our house. 

Antes que nada, quiero agradecer a Itzany por invitarme a dar mi testimonio.  Creo que más que ser un testimonio de mi fe es un testimonio de la manera en que el Señor ha sido paciente y bondadoso conmigo. Mi fe no se distingue por ser firme e inquebrantable. Al contrario, a lo largo de mi caminar como cristiana, he sido, como dijera el escritor cristiano Philip Yancey de sí mismo: "Una peregrina infestada de dudas y esa es la única perspectiva que puedo brindar". Mi deseo, entonces, al compartir mi historia con ustedes es alentarlas y recordarles que el Señor es paciente y bondadoso con sus hijos.   Soy originaria de Iguala, Guerrero, pero vivo en Minneapolis, Minnesota desde hace ya 25 años. Trabajo como traductora e intérprete médica en un hospital infantil y asisto a la Primera Iglesia Bautista de Minneapolis. Mi esposo ayuda con la música y yo doy clases de escuela dominical a los niños.  Mis padres no eran religiosos y aunque me bautizaron de niña, lo hi