
A Fragile Heritage: Untangling the Strands of Faith and Mutation
- Paper cover
- 461 pages
- 1.438 lbs
Item #4-265650
Searching for Perfection and a Good God
The doctor spoke sympathetically, but his words were devastating, "Yes, it is genetic. This mutation happened because you are Mennonites.
Wesley and Sheryl were stunned. Their perfect new daughter had been hospitalized five days after birth with mysterious symptoms. Between episodes of shrill, spasmodic crying, Louisa was mostly comatose, refusing to eat. Had the doctor really said their daughter was sick because they were Mennonites? His words felt like an indictment of their heritage of faith and the God who had preserved it.
The diagnosis of MSUD (maple syrup urine disease) changed everything for the Leinbach family. Louisa's restrictive diet was measured in grams, and ordinary viruses sent her to the hospital. Her parents faced endlessly circling questions. Should Wesley and Sheryl risk having more children, knowing they could also inherit the mutation? Should they pursue a liver transplant for Louisa? What would keep their children from marrying carriers of the mutation and beginning a new generation of suffering?
Combining one family's story with fascinating research on genetic disease, A Fragile Heritage traces the strands of heritage, faith, and mutation through generations and addresses questions about genetic mutations resulting from the overlapping ancestry of many Mennonites and Amish today. It also answers a deeper question: In a world of imperfection, how can we believe in a perfect God?
Table of Contents
- Author's Note
- Foreword
- Prologue
- 1. Piercing Unease
- 2. All Is Perfect
- 3. A Flawed Heritage
- 4. Any Mennonite
- 5. Sitting With Our Fears
- 6. Regret and Promise
- 7. The MSUD Recipe
- 8. And Then There Was Dr. Strauss
- 9. Defining Normal
- 10. To the Cornfields
- 11. Surviving the First Year
- 12. Pressure and Relief
- 13. Don't Call me From Ghana
- 14. What None of Us Can Decide
- 15. Fitful Stability
- 16. Swords and Brooms
- 17. Precious Gem
- 18. Tea Party, With Ants
- 19. Hurry to Lancaster
- 20. Formula Accountant
- 21. Hurry Up and Wait on the Bridges
- 22. Stitches of Hope
- 23. Curtained Prayers
- 24. Voyage of No Return
- 25. Calculated Breaths
- 26. Never Again
- 27. The Stitches Unravel
- 28. Things Not Counted and Uncountable
- 29. Turnups
- 30. Sun on the Other Side
- 31. Lasting Effects
- 32. Parachutes, Puzzle Pieces, and a Perfect God
- 33. God of Our Children's Children
- 34. God Writes
- 35. God the Mathematician
- 36. Acknowledgments: IF
- Appendix A
- Appendix B
- Appendix C
- Notes