My wife raised this question after listening to a local radio talk show. In the show, there was a discussion about a family with a severely developmentally disabled child. The parents would never choose to have a disabled child but talked about how their disabled child had greatly enriched the entire family, including the other siblings. They wouldn’t have it any other way at this point.
Some friends of mine told me recently that their grown child complimented them on not giving them all the toys (cell phones, cars, clothes, etc.) their peers had. In their son’s eyes, he knew something about life and about being happy that his peers knew nothing of.
What do you imagine would make you happy? Did you ever get it and did it last? Consider the lottery winners who end up destroying relationships and even end up broke. Better to be poor and content…
Musings on Faith and Psychology 
Thank you for this entry. Your account of the family with the developmentally disabled child reminded me of my own situation with a prodigal son who returned to the church with a faith more genuine than any he had ever professed prior to walking away. Even though we would never have chosen that path for him (or ourselves!), we are so grateful for his fire and, like that family, we wouldn’t have it any other way.