If there is one constant in life it is change. If you’re like me, a natural born planner, this can be a difficult pill to swallow. Life just never seems to go in a straight predictable line, does it? Up and down and side to side we go. Sometimes it’s as if you’ve been strapped into a rollercoaster ride, but one you never asked to be on, and one that leaves you feeling sick with every twist and turn. 

As parents of children with special needs, change and interruptions to our life plans tend to be the norm, beginning with our child’s diagnosis. We have all these visions and dreams for our child and for our family and then one day everything changes. A sonagram tech pauses and hovers and soon you find out your child has an irreversible condition. At birth and without warning your child struggles and is diagnosed with something you didn’t see coming, and you spend the first 2 years of their life in and out of the hospital and for years to come. Your child isn’t hitting their milestones or begins to regress at some point in their development, and you find yourself sitting across from a psychologist and being told that they have a lifelong disability called Autism.  

The interruptions to our life plans can come in many forms: a move, a job change, a diagnosis, a loss. So, what do we do when life is interrupted? How do we process the interruptions so that they don’t overwhelm us to the point of devastation? The answer lies in how we see the interruptions. What if instead of seeing these moments as interruptions, we could see them as invitations. What if instead of there being a plan A and a less desirable plan B, there is just one plan and it’s the one you find in front of you. What if ultimately, we could see these moments as invitations from a loving God to be present in our lives and to really live in the midst of it all. 

It’s Christmas time, and I’m reminded of one of the greatest interruptions of all. There was a young woman named Mary who was betrothed to a man named Joseph. Mary must’ve had plans for her life: for the beautiful wedding that she would have, for the home that she would make, and yes for the children that she would one day care for. But then an interruption. An angel appeared and told her that she was God’s favored one and that she would be the one to give birth to the Savior of the world. Joseph’s life, too, was interrupted. He was likely in the middle of building the home the couple planned to share and preparing for his wedding day with his bride. When suddenly he found that he was to be the caretaker of the son of God. Then one day as Mary was nearing the end of her pregnancy the Roman government decreed that the Jewish people would have to travel to their land of origin to be counted in a census. Another interruption. And so, the couple traveled for miles and miles to the little town of Bethlehem, where they found there was no place for them to stay. Again interruption. And they were given a stable filled with animals, not the kind of place a first-time mom would want to give birth in. Yet another interruption. But then a baby boy was born, and they called him “Immanuel” meaning, “God with us”, and everything changed not only for Mary and Joseph, but for all of us for all time. And the interruption became an invitation. An invitation to come and see that God had made a way for all to know him and to be with him for eternity. 

So, what if we were able to see the twists and turns, the ups and downs, the interruptions of this life as invitations. Wouldn’t that change everything about how we see change. Instead of seeing interruptions to our life as a diverted plan, we could see them as an opportunity to really live in the midst of that moment and to embrace it as a gift from God. I know that so often these interruptions in life can feel scary and unwanted, but I know too that had I not embraced my own daughter’s disability, I would never have seen the beauty that could come from her disability. It’s her unfiltered statements that often spark the most meaningful interactions with perfect strangers. It is her needs that have led our family to a less selfish and more patient way of living. The Bible says that Mary too looked at all the interruptions to her life and pondered what God had done with them, treasuring it all in her heart. She saw the interruptions of her life as beautiful invitations to experience God in the midst. Our Immanuel. May her Christmas story encourage us all to do the same.