There are times when you come across someone’s life story and all you can say is, “Wow. How were they able to get through that?!” As you move from one unnerving life situation to the next, you can’t help but wonder what is within them that allowed them to eventually claim the victory.
Changed by Chance takes the reader through a roller coaster of emotions. We are right there with Liz Barker’s dreams of motherhood. She takes us along as she experiences what most mothers will, anxiety, uncertainty, anticipation and excitement, when her baby girl is born.
When we’re introduced to Lauren Elizabeth Barker, we are excited along with her mother to have her enter the world. However, upon arrival, all hopes are dashed. Lauren is born with a life threatening heart condition caused by Down syndrome.
We’re there every step of the way as Liz Barker takes us with her and her family through the world of “uncompassionate” healthcare practitioners, a depressing hospital in a blighted neighborhood, the bureaucracy of HMOs, and the daily stress, all while trying to care for a child with special needs.
There are a few “angels” along the way. Though at times it seems that nothing is going right with Lauren and those who love and care for her, there are many bright, joyful moments.
Changed by Chance offers many life lessons. “God will not give you more than you can bear,” is a recurring theme. “Trust your instincts,” is another. Liz has us wondering, (after all she’s been through), what she will do when told to abort her unborn child.
Throughout their many ordeals, Liz is transported through an array of emotions: elation, disappointment, anger, jealousy, envy…while her body experiences fatigue, exhaustion, disease, cancer and chemotherapy. The reader thinks along with her, When will it all stop?
What is important is not what Liz is experiencing, but how she gets through it. She shows us that we can all triumph if faced with tragedy.
Liz held onto her dream of telling her story. After 20 years, Changed by Chance, My Journey of Triumph over Tragedy by Elizabeth Barker was published to help others find the lessons in their experiences, rise out of their valleys and create the will to journey forward.
Just Do Your Dream.
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