11:55pm We received a gift in the mail today. It is a portrait, a drawing of our sweet Avelyn. No tubes, no wires, just her. The portrait was free. It was drawn by a fellow mom who also had a child pass away; thru Children's Mercy she offers to do portraits like this for moms; out of the blue a few weeks ago we received a letter offering this. So thankful. I have it attached below; isn't it beautiful? Isn't she beautiful? We have never seen Avelyn like this; near the end, we did, but by that time she was so swollen, she didn't even look like herself...she was so swollen her little tongue was stuck, sticking out of her little mouth. So this portrait means so much to me. This first picture I attached has always been my favorite picture of Avelyn. Such a precious, angelic face. For the most part, I have been able to look past the tubes & wires in this picture, but I have always longed to see a picture of her without them. When Josh & I opened this gift this evening, we talked a bit about her short life, almost 3 years ago. We also looked at the couple other pictures I had included in the letter to the artist. After looking at these pictures, I watched this video of me singing and then talking to Avelyn. - A video that I always keep on my phone. I love this video because Avelyn was reacting to me singing and to Josh & I talking to her. Her entire short life, it was so hard for her to move due to her significant swelling, so she rarely moved...and it was only a handful of times she was even able to open her eyes due to this swelling.--At the end of this video, she is trying to open her eyes to see us. I love this moment.
Ya know what else I love? I love that Avelyn is no longer hurting. I love that she is able to move & dance with freedom - not attached by a wire or limited by intense & heavy swelling weighing her down. I love that she is able to open her eyes with ease; I wish she was opening them to see me, her mommy, but instead she is seeing something much, much more beautiful. Heaven. Jesus. Her heavenly Father. A creation beyond words, beyond what our imaginations are able to dream. A place where I will join her one day.
I hesitated to share this video. In some ways it's hard to watch, but it also gives me peace. Yesterday as we celebrated Easter and I read so many fb posts, I was reminded how Jesus hurt. How Jesus was nailed to the cross, taking your sins & my sins with Him.--Dying, and taking our sins with Him. Thankfully the story didn't end there though, with our sins nailed to the cross with Jesus. Instead, Jesus left our sins there and rose so that we, me, you, my daughter could take His gift, His grace, for eternal life, in heaven. With Him. We were given freedom from pain & burdens & tears & death, because of His grace.
We are doing a series on Monday nights @ church right now called The Joshua Project. It is a series using scientific evidence to prove that God's creation is real. It shows that you have to have more faith to believe in evolution than in creation because there simply isn't enough science to prove evolution. And that aside, if evolution were true, where's the hope?--My peace re: my daughter would be non-existent. Praise the Lord that HIS creation is real. That it's not only proven scientifically, but that because there is God, there is a "why" behind us. Not simply for us just to exist, but because our God has a purpose for us, a reason for us being here. And also a hope and a peace for a life beyond this life...an everlasting life for those of us who confess our faith in Him. Please do this friends. Accept His grace, His hope, His peace - by accepting Him. Love & hugs all. Goodnight.
Ya know what else I love? I love that Avelyn is no longer hurting. I love that she is able to move & dance with freedom - not attached by a wire or limited by intense & heavy swelling weighing her down. I love that she is able to open her eyes with ease; I wish she was opening them to see me, her mommy, but instead she is seeing something much, much more beautiful. Heaven. Jesus. Her heavenly Father. A creation beyond words, beyond what our imaginations are able to dream. A place where I will join her one day.
I hesitated to share this video. In some ways it's hard to watch, but it also gives me peace. Yesterday as we celebrated Easter and I read so many fb posts, I was reminded how Jesus hurt. How Jesus was nailed to the cross, taking your sins & my sins with Him.--Dying, and taking our sins with Him. Thankfully the story didn't end there though, with our sins nailed to the cross with Jesus. Instead, Jesus left our sins there and rose so that we, me, you, my daughter could take His gift, His grace, for eternal life, in heaven. With Him. We were given freedom from pain & burdens & tears & death, because of His grace.
We are doing a series on Monday nights @ church right now called The Joshua Project. It is a series using scientific evidence to prove that God's creation is real. It shows that you have to have more faith to believe in evolution than in creation because there simply isn't enough science to prove evolution. And that aside, if evolution were true, where's the hope?--My peace re: my daughter would be non-existent. Praise the Lord that HIS creation is real. That it's not only proven scientifically, but that because there is God, there is a "why" behind us. Not simply for us just to exist, but because our God has a purpose for us, a reason for us being here. And also a hope and a peace for a life beyond this life...an everlasting life for those of us who confess our faith in Him. Please do this friends. Accept His grace, His hope, His peace - by accepting Him. Love & hugs all. Goodnight.
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