WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by Emily Pearl Kingsley
"I am often asked to describe an experience of raising a child with a disability – to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it,
"I am often asked to describe an experience of raising a child with a disability – to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it,
to imagine how it would feel. It's like this:
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Michelangelo "David", the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland".
"Holland? you say. "What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
"But there has been a change in the flight plan.
They've landed in Holland, and there you must stay."
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, filthy place, full of famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must buy new guidebooks.
And you must learn a whole new language.
And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there a little while, you look around and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
The pain of that will never, ever go away,
It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there a little while, you look around and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
The pain of that will never, ever go away,
because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.
But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.
But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.
I wanted to share this wonderful poem with you..... My great friend Jamie Mouw shared this with me after Elizabeth was diagnosed with CF. When ever I'm having a down or hard day, I read this to remind me of the great joy I have found in "Holland"!
God has placed a few special families in our life's who have been to "Holland" and back again. To see how God places people in our life's way before the storm comes is sooo awesome! So thank you Lord for that wonderful gift! And thanks to our dear friends Phil and Judy and Lance and Jamie for your friendship, support and love!
3 comments:
What a wonderful story!! Isn't great to be a part of the family of God. Glorifying God together in very painful circumstances!!
Hi Tina,
When I was still teaching someone shared this same poem/story with me... what a great description of what life is sometimes like! You're in my prayers!s
I read this two years ago when it was shared in one of my adoption groups. It is such an amazing analogy. I am so glad to hear that Faih is coming home! Praise the Lord!
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