The temperature outside is near perfect on this peaceful June day. Silver clouds lightly veil the sun, and the slight breeze touches the green prairie grasses like an old friend. You'd never know we had severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings a few days ago. Thankfully the worst of it missed us here. Here, we smell the freshness of the rain and hear the awesome peals of thunder, feel the shake of its fury and see the flash of its power. Yes, Jesus brought the rain to the prairies and to our lives, and we're all the more vibrant because of it. Someday, the days will be more than near perfect. The fury of the storm will be calmed, and the Sun of righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And I think June will be eternal.
Tomorrow, Isaac would be 2 months old. It's hard to believe that it's been that long, or hasn't been that long. Everyday we miss him. Tears sneak up on us, even though we know they're always there. It's a new experience for us, life under a teardrop. It's not really a bad thing; it's where we're at. It's sanctifying, when grief lays it's hand on your heart. Maybe we are being molded into the image of Christ a bit more, because He was a Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. But we don't sorrow like those without hope, no! For the JOY set before Him Jesus endured! No, we rejoice in the Lord always, with grateful hearts. At least, by His grace we try. He is faithful, and He is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
It's the balm of Gilead when other human hearts enter the Jordan with us, when we hand pictures around and smile and tell of the ways God moved through their prayers. Thank you for reaching out and listening with your hearts. It's so good to share the earthy humanity and the heavenly beams shining through the cracks in our earthen vessels. God is working in lives; we just heard more confirmation of it yesterday. Continue to pray for the doctors and nurses who, as one told us yesterday, may have seen God's love for the first time through our time with Isaac. Maybe it is a fresh ray of hope on a near perfect June day.
Listed below are a few links that have helped us as we were going through our journey with Isaac and Trisomy 18.One website that my Mom frequented was actually for Trisomy 13, but the stories are all sources of strength and wisdom, as the big issues facing all Trisomies are similar - the fight for life and the preciousness of it while it lasts. In the words of their site: This amazing community of families, through their own grief and pain, reach out to help others on this very unique journey. Visit www.livingwithtrisomy13.org and be strengthened.
String of Pearls was founded by Laura Huene, after losing her precious daughter Pearl shortly after birth. String of Pearls offers beautiful services by donation; we were blessed by support and a keepsake box that enabled us to create priceless treasures like foot and hand prints and molds, and more, things that will continue to speak of Isaac to us in the silence.
We came across this song a few years ago, but never thought the melody would become a soundtrack of our lives. I Will Carry You was penned by the gifted singer/songwriter Christa Wells and Todd Smith (singer in Christian group Selah) and his wife Angie, after she and Todd walked through the journey of a lifetime in a few hours with their precious daughter Audrey Caroline. My brother JD made a slideshow for Isaac's memorial celebration, and I hope to get it up here sometime. We used I Will Carry You on it, as it was so appropriate.God brought us a certain Youtube video at just the right time when we were in the midst of our walk with Isaac. The timing and the way it came to us was such a miracle. I know I've told it in a previous post, but I'll say it again because it meant so much. During our stay at the hospital one of our nurses watched the Today Show on her time off, which she says she never watches, and she was ecstatic about a video that just happened to be featured that day (just happened? more like planned): the story of baby Eliot and his 99 Balloons. She was so excited that she called up her parents and said "We have that baby here! We have a baby Eliot right now!" She wheeled a computer in to our room and played it for us. We had never seen it before. We wept and were so touched by the love and heavenly humanity displayed in such a beautiful way by the Mooney family. Caring for these little ones is not burdensome, as the video so unobtrusively conveyed, it's a joy and privilege! It was exactly what we needed our doctors to understand...there is more here than cold, sterile procedures. There is something so sacred and human and divine...maybe that something is love. So thank you Mooney family; baby Eliot has touched our lives and given us strength as we carried Isaac.After we found out that Isaac most likely had Trisomy, and would only be with us for a short time, my Mom contacted a bereavement photography ministry called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. This foundation administers a network of thousands of volunteer photographers in 25 countries. At your request, a NILMDTS Affiliated Photographer comes to your location to provide a private portrait session. The photos are then professionally retouched and given to the family. We had a great local professional photographer come in; she took beautiful pictures.
