The Gift of the Unexpected: Discovering Who You Were Meant to be When Life Goes Off Plan by Jillian Benfield Book Review

In The Gift of the Unexpected, Jillian Benfield explored how we can learn to be present in our current circumstances and how we can discover who we are at our core. She breaks the book down into three parts: seeing ourselves like God sees us, feeling our pain, and discovering who God wants us to become. In the book, she opened up about her life story and how she was once a journalist and a news anchor. Everything changed when she was 27 years old and pregnant with her second child. She recalls receiving a phone call from her husband, Andy. The doctor reached out to him to explain the prognosis. They discovered that their son, Anderson had Down syndrome. She also discussed how rocky it was when they discovered that their son had a hole in his heart that measured 4 millimeters. It ended up really being 9 millimeters and was twice the size and there was two holes once he successful received the surgery. She revealed all of the mix of the emotions and events they faced as a couple. She was very real in sharing her grief, how she believed no one would ever want a picture of their son, he might not ever fall in love or be married, or get a job, and all the other fears that may come. She described her shock and her own ignorance and how she thought at first it meant he would experience a lesser life. She explained to readers how our worth isn’t found in our jobs, accomplishments, or intellect. It can only be found in God’s love for us and we can’t do anything to add to it. 

 

 

 

 

In the book, she also explored how people are treated who have a disability. In ancient times, Aristotle strongly recommended that they kill babies who had disabilities and use a method called idiot cages to separate them from others. Hitler murdered 270,000 people who had disabilities. Another example shared was about Staten Island Willowbrook, a mental institution. They were unsanitary, lacked clothing, patients suffered abuse, and patient were subjected to studies. She explained how they are seen as a disadvantage in society. She shared that, “about 78 percent of eligible adults with intellectual disabilities weren’t employed.” A major factor is how in schools they tend to separate and segregate the classrooms and how this leads to a segregated world. 

 

 

 

I would recommend this wonderful encouraging book about learning how to navigate in raising a child who has a disability. This book was very eye opening about the challenges and the negative preceptive society has towards them. I loved how it looked at the history and how this has shaped the future. I also liked how real Jillian was in explaining what her and her husband felt and experienced when they discovered and how over time, they loved the unexpected. I loved how each chapter contained a special section entitled the gift. She also had helpful discussion questions in each chapter. 

 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Bethany House/ Chosen for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com: 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Unexpected-Discovering-Were-Meant/dp/0764240498