My Beauty

I have always thought of Leah as a beautiful child.

Her eyes are a breath-taking shade of blue and those little Bruschfield spots she has, look like sparkling diamonds in them.

Her smile is contagious.

Her face is precious.

Her ears are petite and her earrings show off the perfect shape of her jaw.

She has the cutest little feet. Her middle toes are smaller then the toes on either side, and they are chubby little things that you can’t help but to nibble on.

I don’t know how to say what I’m about to say without it coming out wrong, so I’m just going to say it.

I have always thought of Leah as a beautiful child, even with Down syndrome.

Since those sweet first glimpses of my beauty, I have been able to see Down syndrome and quite frankly, I didn’t always welcome that sight.

It has been a constant reminder of her “differences” and disability.

It is tough to see people trying to figure out if she has it or not.

I don’t like the stares.

I just want my baby to be “normal” and her face is a constant reminder that she isn’t (not that any of us are, but that’s a whole other blog post).

Until the other day.

The other day in the van, I saw one of the most breath-taking children I have ever seen.

For the first time, I saw Leah as a beautiful child, INCLUDING Down syndrome, not “even with it.”

I saw a gorgeous face and I actually welcomed the Down syndrome characteristics.

They added to my sense of being awe-struck.

Once, Steven and I were laying in bed staring at Leah and I said, “I think Heavenly Father sent her with Down syndrome because if He didn't, she would be so beautiful that Satan would work REALLY hard on her and others around her.”

Does that make sense?

Now, I think Heavenly Father sent her with Down syndrome to show us the true view of beauty.

How He sees beauty.

I think the other day I saw a glimpse of what He sees.

I saw a beauty unlike I have ever seen before.

I could feel my spirit rejoice in her sight.

It is really hard to explain.

Long story short, Leah is beautiful...

...And I see it more every day.