"God was with Joshua. He became famous all over the land."
Today is a day of grief. Of mourning.
Baby Joshua was born on August 16th with a broken heart. Named Joshua after 1:9, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
After two surgeries and a number of crashes, Baby Joshua has taken his last breath. His heart has pumped one last time. And he is back with the Father of all fathers.
In the last year, baby Joshua was a soldier. A fighter. He defied all odds when his mother, Jill, has a hemmorage during pregnancy. He defied all odds by making it full term. And he defied all odds by surviving his first weeks.
In the last year, I have shared Joshua with more of my family and friends than I even imagined. My friends and family have shared baby Joshua with their friends and families. Today, I have recieved messages from people who do not know baby Joshua or the family. Messages flood Jill and Shane from people they have never met. At one point, Jill told me, her blog had 10,000 hits in one day. Through his story and his amazingly strong parents, baby Joshua has changed lives.
In the last year, baby Joshua has reached many points where he could have returned to the arms of Christ. God asked him to stay a little longer, and he did. He stayed for his mommy. He stayed for the unsaved people who found faith through him. He stayed for a purpose. In baby Joshua's short life, he has impacted beauty on so many people. Some people live a hundred years and fail to touch so many lives.
Thank you God for such a tiny blessing. Thank you Jill and Shane for sharing him with the world. There are no words to say to express the pain and the loss that I feel for you. The sympathy pains that run deep are nothing compared to the utter ache you are enduring. Just know that I am here for you, whenever you are ready for me. And everyone else is keeping you in their prayers.
2 comments:
Beautiful Carla.
My heart feels both pain and peace today. I am crying many tears, yet embracing our loving Father's promises of hope. So thankful to have known and snuggles this sweet boy. What an immeasurable impact he has had on me--and so many others.
i am SOOOOO thankful to the Lord for little Joshua. So little and yet he's got such a HUGE legacy/story he's leaving behind...
this is beautiful...i am so jealous you got to meet him on this side...but i am so thrilled for you as well! ;0) What a blessing it must've been, and to have been able to spend time with Jill and, i'm sure, uplift her spirits a little bit while you were there... what blessings... my emotions are all over the place since i found out about all this this afternoon...i find myself wanting to say SO much about him, and being being speechless, then about to bawl my eyes out, then being so thankful for his life that i feel the urge to just smile, and on and on it goes...
This is beautiful Carla! i love you...thanks for being there for Jill and Shane and their family... okay so now i'm back to bawling again... ;(
Post a Comment