Why should a baby be born into the world with defects that alter the normal course of life? How can a loving and merciful God allow such things to happen? I do not pretend to have an easy answer that will satisfy all who ask this question. My own life, however, has been marred by this very problem. To have your own child born without usable sight, retarded, and with a serious neurological disorder forces you to look at the reality of life. My damaged son Tim is now an adult in age. His problems are not over, and we are still learning.
The purpose of this book is to encourage those whose lives have been touched with the problem that we have been wrestling with for over 40 years. If you are in this situation, you will find yourself in these pages -- for all who have faced the problem of a damaged child have faced the same frustrations, anger, despair, prejudice, and lack of understanding. They have also experienced the joy, rewards, peace, encouragement, openness, comradeship, and understanding. We hope you find not only encouragement in these pages, but also some ideas of how to meet the challenges that you face. Perhaps some source of help, some approach to a problem, or some way to get someone else to understand will come through that you have never considered before. There were those who helped us a great deal in our trials, and we hope this book will help you in yours.
We reach out to you offering whatever help we can give you. If you would care to write us or call us we would be happy to listen and help if we can. In many cases we will not be able to offer anything that you have not already learned. We have had a good teacher, however, that has given us many answers to the problem of the damaged child. Not only have we received answers from people and from God, but we have learned a great deal from Timothy -- my son and my teacher
(...Read more about Timothy and the physical and spiritual challenges a legally blind, retarded child brought to John and Phyllis Clayton...)
