DOUG MAZZA A Father’s Surrender
MANY FATHERS OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES have faced crisis moments when total surrender seemed like the only way through. They’ve walked up the mountain with the same gut-wrenching fear Abraham must have felt while chopping wood to sacrifice his son Isaac, as God had instructed (22:1-11). Doug Mazza is one of those fathers.
Doug’s son Ryan was born with Crouzon syndrome, a chromosomal imperfection that deforms the skull and affects the respiratory system. For Ryan it meant thirteen difficult surgeries before age three, which left Doug pacing the halls of the ICU asking God, “What purpose could you have in all this? What kind of life will he have?”
Like Abraham, Doug was a leader in business and family matters—a “fixer” of problems. But one night as Ryan lay in a coma, completely nonresponsive for twelve hours, Doug’s heart was broken. He slid to the floor beside his son’s bed and cried out to God. Realizing he was powerless, Doug surrendered Ryan to the Lord. While the solution didn’t come in that moment, as when Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in a thicket (22:13), Ryan lived.
Let go of the controls and surrender to God’s sovereignty
Reflecting on that day, Doug says he knows Christ had been waiting for him to let go of the controls and trust the One who had always been in authority. Doug had asked God to show him the purpose for his son’s life, and instead God showed him the purpose for his own life.
Today, Doug Mazza serves as president and chief operating officer of Joni and Friends and is the proud father of a grown son with severe disabilities. He is quick to point out that the child who wasn’t expected to live more than a few moments has become his greatest teacher. Ryan has never spoken a word, but his life is a clear testimony that God can be trusted.