Praise for "A Good and Perfect Gift"

Now Featured in the Patheos Book Club

A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny, By Amy Julia Becker

What People are Saying ....

Amy Julia Becker has the courage and grace to tell the truth. Whether you are a parent or not, whether the children in your life are "typical" or not, her story will shake you, change you, and encourage you. In a world obsessed with achievement and perfection, A Good and Perfect Gift opens the door to a much more excellent way.
—Andy Crouch, author, Culture Making

Becker . . . knows how to grab a reader's heartstrings and never let go as she writes about her journey as a new mom to Penny, her first child, who has Down syndrome. This beautifully written text explores how Becker and her husband deal with the news of having a child with a disability and the transformation they undergo as time passes. Becker's work is introspective and theologically inquisitive, leading readers to ask the same questions this mother asks herself as her world tilted off its axis.
—Publishers Weekly starred review

Amy Julia Becker makes herself vulnerable to enlighten us, not just about Down syndrome, but about the intrinsic gifts of life. This book is a must-read, and not just for families and friends of children with Down syndrome.
—Sara Groves, singer and songwriter

This excellent and moving book about Penny as a wonderful gift should be read not just by parents of people with disabilities but by all of us who should discover the beauty of those who are different.
—Jean Vanierauthor, founder L'Arche

It has been said there are places in our hearts we do not even know until the heart is broken. A Good and Perfect Gift is the moving story of how Amy Julia Becker and her husband found their hearts broken through the arrival of their very special child. There is beauty here—in the writing and the story—told with deep feeling and faith but not sentimentality. I recommend this book highly, not only to parents with a special child, but to all who seek to discern what God gives us through some of our most painful times.
—Leighton Ford 
author, The Attentive Life

Do not be fooled. This is not a typical book about disabilities, sorrow, and triumph. This is a book about a mother who loves her daughter: "I needed to see her as our little girl, not as a diagnosis, not as an obstacle to overcome." This is among the best books I have read about the true power of the powerless.
—Christopher de Vinck author, The Power of the Powerless

It takes faith to turn an unmet expectation into something delightfully exceptional, and Amy Julia Becker learned to do just that when Penny was born. Poignant and powerful, the world needs more stories of inspiration like this one!
—Joni Eareckson Tada Joni and Friends International Disability Center

A forthright account of a how a mother used her religious faith to come to terms of adjustment, acceptance, and love for having a child with Down syndrome.
—Dr. Carl Pickhardt psychologist, author, child development expert

Amy Julia's rare gift with words—descriptive, vulnerable, penetrating—bring to life a message of joyful contentment inspired by her daughter Penny.
—Susan Alexander Yates author and speaker