Asperger's Disorder, Bi Polar, ADHD - Why Didn't I Just Hit the Lottery?

So, you tell me. Would you call it simply crazy, incredibly unlucky, or an absolute blessing that I was assigned the life that I lead? How about you? How would you answer this question for yourself? I mean seriously, according to statistics, 5.5 million Americans age 18 or older, or 2.6 percent of the adult population is afflicted with Bipolar Disorder. A recent survey conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Mental Development estimate that 1 in 500 people (0.2% of the general population) have some form of Asperger’s Disorder. And finally, we do know that an estimated 1 in 30,000 adult males and 1 in 100,000 adult females struggle with some sort of “gender identity” issue. Wow! Talk about hitting the genetic lottery! So why is it that my kids and I were blessed with all three “afflictions,” as opposed to say, being blessed with the winning ticket for Power Ball … or perhaps being blessed with winning the state lottery, or even a scratch ticket for heaven’s sake!? When I really think about it, I tend to think that it is for all the same reasons that devout Christians point to. “God will never give you more than you can handle”, “God gives you the children you have because you are the only ones that are able to handle them.” Really? Well what if I can’t handle them? What if my husband and I can’t handle them? Well, considering the above I CHOOSE to believe that God has given us these two precious and broken children because we CAN handle them, even though we may not want to handle them. I’m not saying that we don’t want to raise our kids, what I’m saying is maybe we don’t want to deal with Bipolar Disorder, Autism and Gender Identity Disorder. Who wants that? Are we being punished for some reason? Or are we raising the next Van Gogh, Bill Gates or Albert Einstein? I choose to believe the latter! Yes, right now I choose to believe that God has blessed us with these afflictions, and that one day, after all the struggling, heartache and pain, we will find out what God has in store for our little family. So what about you? What are YOUR “afflictions”? What has God blessed YOU with? Will you decide to give up and let life run its course, not believing that you are suffering for a greater reason? Or are you going to do like me and figure out why you have been hit with the genetic lottery, which didn’t payout money? Should we all decide together that the payout is something better than money? Something longer lasting and more eternal? More rewarding? Could the prize be in the form of our children becoming the next C.S. Lewis, the recipient of the Noble Peace Prize or the next President of the United States of America? Yeah, I’ve decided. I’ll take my children and their…excuse me, OUR afflictions, over a million dollar winning lottery ticket. After all, isn’t it more rewarding to work for a paycheck as opposed to winning the lottery?