Archives for July 2007

I stopped by Especially Heather tonight to see how she is doing. She has a post that you don’t want to miss! It is so heart-warming to read through the comments and see what beautiful memories people have. I wrote about our sweet Elijah, which was more emotional than I expected. Someday I plan to share his whole testimony with you. The story that God wove together for us will absolutely amaze you! Please leave a comment of your own on Heather’s site if someone has touched your life.

I am going to post the comment that I left in case you want to read it without wading through all the others. A warning to my mom: stop reading now if you don’t want to cry :o) Btw, Chrissi is the person who posted before me about her 6 yr. old son Tyler.

Dear Chrissi,
Your Tyler just has to be playing with my 4 yr. old Elijah because they have so much in common- he loved to laugh, loved Baby Beluga, touched many hearts, & lost his battle with Leukemia. He is my hero. That was 7 years ago and we still hear stories of the lives he changed.

Elijah was famous at the hospital because of the many miracles God provided in his short life. He never complained, had a smile for everyone, shared anything with anybody, and had the staff wrapped around his little finger. As soon as a call came that Elijah was coming in, the nurses would start arguing over which one was going to win & get to take care of him! He taught us so much about love – God & Jesus were the most important thing in life to him. His favorite singer is Rich Mullins and whenever Awesome God would come on the radio he would say, “Hey, I know this song!’, and sing along at the top of his lungs. Rich died on September 19, 1997. Elijah was diagnosed, and should have died, on September 19, 1999. We don’t think it was a coincidence.

His story is an amazing one! He should have died the night he was diagnosed, but God intervened & carried him through. He should have died when he contracted fungal meningitis a month later, but God intervened and carried him through.

His death was as special as he was. The doctors had pulled us aside a couple of months before & told us that because Elijah had survived his initial round of chemo, he should come out of everything just fine. And told us that they couldn’t say that about any other patient on the floor, but assured us that he would be ok. God had a different plan. April 1st, 2000, had us returning to the hospital for what we thought was a now-routine trip for platelets or whatever. Instead, we end up in a room with his doctors hearing the I’m-sorry-there’s-nothing-we can-do speech. The day before he died, he turned to my husband, who was beside him in the hospital bed. “Daddy, who is that man in the corner?” My husband thought he was talking about my granddad. “No, not Granddaddy, the man over there, standing in the corner.” I don’t know if it was his guardian angel, or Jesus Himself, waiting to deliver Elijah home – but I know with all my heart that someone was in that corner! Elijah’s death was peaceful & beautiful. He just slowly stopped breathing, but we could tell he had already gone Home before his body gave up the fight. We didn’t have a clue until later that a death from Burkitts Leukemia is supposed to be painful, violent and horrifying. Several people told my sister that she must be mistaken about his diagnosis because the kids they knew with Burkitts didn’t just peacefully stop breathing. Once again, God intervened & carried us through.

God so richly BLESSED us through our experience. He gave us 7 extra months with Elijah when he should have died the night he was diagnosed. He made us better parents because we no longer took our children for granted. He gave us a church family to hold us up when we didn’t have the strength to hold each other up. He taught us to believe in miracles and angels O:-) He healed our hearts when they were so broken that it physically hurt. He offers us hope that we will once again embrace our beloved firstborn.

Heather, thank you for allowing this opportunity to remember the lives that have shaped our own. I read your blog every day and pray for you often. We serve such a mighty God who is not bound by doctor’s words. He does what He wills, and we are the better for it no matter what the outcome. Your faith has changed lives & will continue to do so. Thank you for brightening mine!