Book Review: Same lake Different boat
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Same lake Different boat
Book Author: Stephanie O. Huback
Review Author: Joanne Berends.
NONE Free Reformed Church
Pro Ecclesia Bookshop
This book review first appeared in Reformed Perspective July/August 2012.
Web address http://www.reformedperspective.ca/
Now published with kind permission of the author Joanne Berends.
P&R Publishing, 2006
234 pages, Paperback
The title gives a very good preview of what this book is all about. Stephanie Huback’s second son, Timmy, was born with Down syndrome. This comes as a total shock to her and her husband, and the author writes a compelling story about the many ways in which they learn to adapt to their new family situation.
She begins by showing in a very clear and scriptural way that people with handicaps – whatever their handicap may be – continue to be image bearers of our Creator (Genesis 1:27). Huback also gives some helpful and practical examples and advice in how to deal with the often very inappropriate way some people react to a handicapped child or adult.
In one chapter she deals with the relentlessness of disability. As an illustration she relates how, one day, Timmy decided to help with the laundry by taking the clothes out of the dryer, placing them in the laundry tub, and running water into the tub. And then he forgot to turn the water off, with the result being that there was water everywhere, including in the basement. The following day brought new excitement. This time Timmy decided that the new puppy needed a wash so he put him in the washing machine! Huback writes:
At times, relentless difficulties are something that we can laugh about when the intensity has ebbed. Often, though, there is nothing funny about them – during or afterward. For some families touched by disability, relentlessness comes in the form of providing decades of personal care, or heart-wrenching struggles with communication, aggression, or self-injury on the part of the individual with special needs.
The author concludes this chapter with some insightful ways on how to deal with, in a God-reliant way, and respond to these challenges placed in our path.
I enjoyed reading this book because the author refers back to Scripture frequently, yet without being preachy, and she creates a helpful awareness of the impact of disability in the family and in the church. While there are many stories, this is not simply a collection of personal anecdotes on how the author’s family coped. Instead, it is a very insightful book for all of us in our task as members of the communion of saints helping one another.
Same lake, Different boat would be a very good addition to anyone’s library and I would also certainly recommend it for inclusion in our church libraries.