When Sarah was born the doctors told me: "She will not be able to live on her own." Not true.



"She will have a very limited vocabulary." Not true at all.

"She will never be able to think abstractly." Definitely not true!

"She will never be able to tie her shoes." Well, she ties her shoes quite well, thank you!

As the mother of five children, two of whom are genetically different with Down's syndrome, I ran a pretty tight ship. While I managed to keep the laundry machines working on a daily basis, there was one job that seemed insurmountable — matching, folding and separating socks. Imagine seven people ranging in age from 3 to 38 years. How many pairs of socks are we talking about? Being the pragmatic mother I turned an old apple crate into a "sock basket" where I tossed all the socks. Everyone was expected to find a pair of socks that matched each other and fit their feet. One time I was totally embarrassed when Sarah, then three years old, removed her shoes at her day program, and walked around with big long white tube socks. She was wearing big brother Erick's socks!

Attempting to maintain a sense of civility, I established a few "rules" which applied to the Special Kids as well— Rules like, "Keep your hands on your own body." (I.e. no hitting, pinching or tickling) and "No teasing allowed." This rule was necessary since once a Special Kid learns something they cannot "unlearn" it—teasing teaches them the "wrong" way and it's only funny to the person doing the teasing, not to the recipient. Oh, I had a classic rule—"If you can fight, you can kiss." THAT rule, although unpopular, went a long way in preventing fights between brothers and sisters and friends.

But it was the next rule, which prompted a magnificent event: "If you can, you must." It went like this:

If you can dress yourself, you must. If you can make your bed, you must. If you can tie your shoes, you must.

I was enforcing the "shoe rule" one morning, when Sarah was about five years old. She had just learned how to tie her shoes, and in keeping with the rule I gave her plenty of time to do it.

We lived in a large two-story, split-level house with a huge welcoming foyer, leading to four wide steps up to the living room. I helped Sarah get settled on the bottom step with her running shoes unlaced, so she could easily slide her feet into them. "OK, honey, tie your shoes. I'll be back in a minute."

I might have been gone two minutes—three at the most. And when I returned to see how Sarah was doing, both shoes were PERFECTLY tied! These were the most amazing bows I'd ever seen! Not off to one side at all. They were absolutely centered. Moreover, all four loops of both bows were precisely equal. I'm sure this is an impossible feat. I've been tying my shoes for 55 years and I've never been so precise.

"Sarah! How did you do that?" I asked pointing to her feet. "How did you tie your shoes so fast?"

"Oh, Jesus came and tied my shoes," she stated.

"He did?" I was stunned by her answer and questioned her further. "What did he look like?"

"He was white," she replied.

"Was he wearing white?" I wondered if this was something she had learned about at Sunday school.

"No, he was all shiny and white."

Well, I knew that answer hadn't come from a Sunday school lesson. Besides, she said it with such conviction and forthrightness. I could not accuse her of making it all up—her shoes were tied in record time with precision beyond mere human ability!

For 25 years I have pondered this event again and again. I had been so distracted with all my duties and deadlines I almost missed it, but Sarah didn't. She got it! It was a miracle.

This event convinced me that children live a lot closer to Source (or God) than adults. Well, of course—we all came from Source and the infant, the baby; the innocent ones can still "see" Source and communicate with It freely.

When you think of it, isn't that what we're all trying to do? Find our way back to Source? Find a way to "see" with our pure angel eyes once more.

I am just starting to come to terms with this miracle and more than two dozen others I've been privileged to observe or participate in. I've come to the conclusion that "A miracle is a welcomed outcome that flies in the face of rational thinking."

As well, there's a gentle soft voice within telling me,

"It's time; Time to talk about the miracles, time to speak and time to teach."

Are you looking for a miracle? Perhaps you know someone who needs a miracle. Are you wondering if there is anything you can do to facilitate a miracle in their life or your own?

Copyright (c) 2008 Rebecca Hanson