At 12 weeks pregnant, I learned my 2nd child Emmett had positive markers for down syndrome, which felt overwhelmed.
The rest of the phone call became a blur. She mentioned going in for further ultrasounds and referrals to genetic counsellors. At the end of the conversation I said in a defeated voice, ‘Well ok, just go ahead and tell me the gender of the baby now.’
After her attempt in encouraging me to stick with my other plans, she proceeded with my wishes and said, ‘It’s a boy. You are having a boy!’ Our family was shocked, crushed, and devastated by the news. I’ve never cried so much or felt so broken-hearted more than those early weeks in receiving his diagnosis.
Down syndrome effects 1 out of every 700 babies in the United States and when found prenatally 67% of those babies are terminated. I fully understood those numbers when I obtained my own diagnosis for Emmett. The anxiety in the unknown is immensely suffocating and so many questions out of fear seemed to come to mind.
Would he be included among his peers? Would he be sick constantly? Would he need surgeries? What would his relationship be like with my oldest daughter? The question I struggled with the most and the majority of second time parents usually ask themselves was, ‘Will I love him as much as I love my daughter?’
When Emmett was born, our love for him overcame all fears, inspiring us to start a nonprofit to support other families.
Our nonprofit name originates from Ephesians 3:17-19, which states just how abundant Gods love is for ALL of us. People with special needs are often viewed and described as less, broken, defective by worldly standards.
Most of the time these thoughts are buried deep in our hearts. We deny they are there until we are forced to face this injustice personally. Our goal is to expose this untruth and promote how loved, valued, and worthy we all our in His love that surpasses knowledge.
We started a nonprofit to send “Bags of Hope” to families with a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis, reaching hundreds across the U.S. In efforts to raise awareness to our mission we are hosting a nationwide online auction March 14-21st.
Being a Nashville native, I was able to reach out and share our mission with Lauren Akins in efforts to request an autographed copy of her new book, ‘Live in Love.’ She is so passionate about helping others, and when she was told what we were doing we received the news that she loved it. She agreed to send the book for our auction, and I was overjoyed!
At 09:17 a.m. Friday morning, while I was working, I received a text message from my mom stating, ‘Love that Surpasses has received a box from Thomas Rhett, the country singer.’ I was shocked at the box which had arrived in the mail, because it was almost as tall as I was. The anticipation of getting off of work and going home to open that box was suspenseful.
I was overjoyed, shocked, excited, and so emotional as I would tear up on and off throughout the day thinking of this blessing they had given me. When I got home from work that evening my family gathered around as we opened this surprise package to find an autographed guitar from Thomas Rhett.
To say we were stunned and grateful is a complete understatement. Lauren and Thomas have always been known to have big hearts in giving back and here’s another story that America deserves to hear about them because the world truly needs more kind humans like them.
We are grateful for the unexpected support and love Thomas Rhett, Lauren Akins, and our hometown.
