“My daughter is six years old. She’s adorable, sweet, and loving. She has a beautiful smile and is a happy child. She loves to play and would be a good friend. But she doesn’t have any friends. In fact, she has never been invited to a birthday party.”

Several years ago a teary-eyed mom came to me after I spoke to an audience of mothers, and she told me her story. You see her daughter has down’s syndrome and is not seen by others as “normal.” The young mom went on to say, “It breaks my heart when I see moms at the playground having play dates with other moms and their kids. But I don’t want them to feel sorry for me, I just want to be included in their groups and I want them to accept my daughter.” She asked if I would consider addressing this issue when I speak to moms. I said yes. That was over 10 years ago and I still share her story when I speak to moms on parenting.

The words from this precious mom still ring in my ear. I feel her pain, but I cannot relate because I did not raise a child with special needs. As I look back on my kids’ friends when they were growing up, they did reach out to kids who were not considered “normal.” When my son Rob was in 6th grade, he became friends with a boy who had autism. His mother told me that her son never had a good friend like Rob and she was amazed at how her son opened up around him. My son Scott was the same way–always being a friend to someone who needed a friend. When my daughter, Teri, was in elementary school, if she would see a girl playing alone on the playground, she would leave her group of friends and go play with her. In middle school when she noticed a girl standing by her locker looking sad, my daughter talk to her and they became friends. I have to confess I was not that way when I was growing up. I wanted to be friends with kids who were easy to be friends with. Maybe courage and compassion skip a generation. I’m just glad my kids figured it out.

If your child has the opportunity to be friends with a child who has special needs or just needs a friend, your child will be a blessing, but he or she will also be blessed in return. Many positive life lessons are learned when we reach out to be friends with those who might be slightly different that we are. That’s what Jesus did and it’s what He wants us to do.

I have tried my best to write this blog with care. Since I do not have a special needs child, I do not want my words to be offensive or insensitive in any way. If something I said could be worded better, please let me know.

Thanks!

Crystal