Andrew S. Fuller

“In her memoir, Expecting Adam, Martha Beck writes, “If you’ll cast your mind back to high school biology, you may remember that a species is defined, in part, by the number of chromosomes in every individual. Adam’s extra chromosome makes him as dissimilar from me as a mule is from a donkey. Adam doesn’t just do less than a ‘normal’ child his age might; he does different things. He has different priorities, different tastes, different insights.” Beck writes of the transformations her son has wrought in her own life. “The immediacy and joy with which he lives his life make rapacious achievement, Harvard-style, look a lot like quiet desperation. Adam has slowed me down to the point where I notice what is in front of me, its mystery and beauty, instead of thrashing my way through a maze of difficult requirements toward labels and achievements that contain no joy in themselves.” Children with Down syndrome tend to retain what the experts call babyfaceness. These children have “a small, concave nose with a sunken bridge, smaller features, larger forehead and shorter chin, and fuller cheeks and rounder chin, resulting in a rounder face.” A recent study found that both the register in which parents speak to their DS child and the variances in pitch resembled the voice patterns parents use to speak to infants and young children.””

“Restoration Restore us, O LORD God Almighty;make your face shine upon us,that we may be saved. PSALM 80:19 Israel was in great need. Their enemies mocked them, saying that God had forsaken them. Thus the psalmist repeats the cry three times: “Restore us … that we may be saved!” In our present day the enemy rejoices that in spite of our many churches, Christianity seems powerless to overcome the evils of drunkenness, immorality, worldliness, and materialism. God’s children ask, Can nothing be done? Is there no hope of revival? Is God reluctant to lead His people into a fuller, deeper life of victory over sin and all that opposes Christ? Did God not promise that in answer to our prayers He would send His Spirit? Revival and restoration are much needed. And both are possible. God longs for us to claim His promises and exercise our right as members of the royal priesthood (see 1 Peter 2:9). Lord, restore us that we may be saved! Where must such restoration begin? With ourselves! He waits for us to offer ourselves as instruments to be used by the Holy Spirit. He waits for us to separate ourselves from sin and devote ourselves to the witness of the gospel. Christians need to realize and demonstrate that the aim of their life is to serve God and to rescue those for whom Christ shed His blood. Restoration is, in fact, happening wherever God’s people are sacrificing everything to live and work and suffer as Christ did. It avails little to desire a deeper or more abundant life unless your main objective is to witness for Christ and win others for His service.””