Down syndrome? Maybe she’ll go to the moon! 

by Bret Bowerman, special contributor to CNN
This morning, my older sister, Lisa, sent me a link to this incredibly insightful post by a gentleman, a dad, named Bret Bowerman. Bret is a principal at a private equity firm in New York. He and his wife, Courtney, have three children, including 4-year-old Ellie, who has Down syndrome. Bowerman serves on the board of the National Down Syndrome Congress. His essay first came to CNN through iReport.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Bret’s daughter, Ellie, is 4 and was born with Down syndrome, which came as a surprise to him and his wife as they had passed every pre-screening test (much like Paul and I had)
  • He shares so eloquently in this essay how he believes lowered expectations unnecessarily limit children with disabilities. Paul and I couldn’t agree more. I don’t want the focus to be on all the things people think Isaiah CAN’T or WON’T be able to do. How dare anyone put limits on our child! Perhaps they just don’t know how great big our God is. Don’t worry. We’ll show ’em, Isaiah. And Ellie is paving the way!

I hope you’ll click here to read his post, and I encourage you to share your thoughts below once you’re done reading. I’ll be reaching out to Mr. Bowerman and can share your prayers and thoughts with him.

We’ll do an update later today on our little guy. Right now, I’d like our prayers to be with this family, and especially to lift them up in prayer as they navigate the waters of sharing their child’s story with the world in the hopes of touching someone’s heart. I know mine was touched…


Today’s scripture is so fitting… I’ll dive into it a little more in my next post about Isaiah!

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us.
~ Ephesians 3:20