Leftie

I had a conversation with a fellow mom of a child with a leg limb difference the other day about our journey with terminology.

How do we refer to the leg with the length difference?

For reasons neither of us really could figure out, we discovered that ours and others initial moniker for the leg was the "bad leg." But as soon as those words were out of a mouth, our hearts screamed...that's wrong! She shared that they, too, quickly, deliberately changed their wording to a more accurate description.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16

Kevin and I have had several discussions about how we talk about Lily's leg. It is not her "bad" leg...as was occasionally said when she first came home. It is just as good as her right leg. It cannot make moral decisions or behave inappropriately simply because it is shorter. My mother is not 'bad' because she is 5'2" and I am 5'9". Compared to me she is shorter...perhaps even little. Depending on where my mom is in relation to me, she may be on my left.

So it is with Lily's leg. It is "leftie," or her "short leg," "small leg," "little leg" but not a bad leg.

I want Lily to grow up celebrating her leg. It is part of her and how God permitted her to be formed. He has a purpose and a plan for her life which happens to include a limb difference. Our prayer is that she will not simply be content with her leg's length and the prosthetics she will use over her lifetime, but that she would rejoice in her limb difference and be thankful for it. We pray that He will work this attitude into her heart and we believe that begins with us and the messages we convey to her.

In Him,