All families go through hard times. Beth Moore has a saying to “hang on until you receive the blessing.” My family experienced a blessing after the hard time of dealing with my dad’s death from pancreatic cancer.
My dad had been diagnosed in late September of 2000. I journeyed to Houston with my mom and dad for his cancer treatment. During October, my sister and brother joined us for a visit. My sister didn’t want my parents to know that she was pregnant at the time because she knew they would have been worried about her flying. Before and after her difficult premature delivery of her first daughter, Marissa, she had miscarried several babies, with the last miscarriage threatening her own health. She told my brother and me about it, so we kept the secret. After she returned home from the visit, her doctor put her on bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy. So, while my dad was fighting for his life with cancer treatments, my sister was fighting for the life of her unborn child. Every week that a baby stays in the womb, more and more things about that baby grow and develop. Each week is vital.
When my dad died, my sister was not able to attend the funeral. The 3 ½ hour drive would have been too much for her and her growing baby. So she stayed home, and my mom had my best friend, Jason, make a video of the funeral. (Yes, that was weird, and I thank Jason for following my mother’s bizarre request.) After the funeral, the rest of the family joined my sister in her California king size bed (we had the kids watch cartoons in the other room in order not to scar them for life), and we watched the funeral video with her. I really hope it’s been deleted now.
On April 10, 2001, we received our blessing. Emily Faith was born healthy and not so happy at the time, but happy later. She is so much fun. She looks very much like my sister, but acts very much like my brother-in-law, so it’s a funny combination. And she does a terrific job of fulfilling her role at torturing and tattling on her older sister, Marissa, and being the baby of the family. Today Emily is seven years old. She is our little princess and rules her kingdom with style, humor, and grace.
Happy 7th birthday Emily!
I love this picture. I think it sums up their personalities. Emily is holding her big sis, Marissa.
Emily and her daddy
Emily's kindergarten pic
At the time all this was going on, I met another girl around my age whose father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 15 days before my dad. Her sister was also expecting. Her father lived about a year or so longer than my dad, but her sister lost her baby. Life can never be predicted. I thank God for his mighty hand upon our lives no matter what the circumstance. May we trust him and his wisdom.
My dad had been diagnosed in late September of 2000. I journeyed to Houston with my mom and dad for his cancer treatment. During October, my sister and brother joined us for a visit. My sister didn’t want my parents to know that she was pregnant at the time because she knew they would have been worried about her flying. Before and after her difficult premature delivery of her first daughter, Marissa, she had miscarried several babies, with the last miscarriage threatening her own health. She told my brother and me about it, so we kept the secret. After she returned home from the visit, her doctor put her on bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy. So, while my dad was fighting for his life with cancer treatments, my sister was fighting for the life of her unborn child. Every week that a baby stays in the womb, more and more things about that baby grow and develop. Each week is vital.
When my dad died, my sister was not able to attend the funeral. The 3 ½ hour drive would have been too much for her and her growing baby. So she stayed home, and my mom had my best friend, Jason, make a video of the funeral. (Yes, that was weird, and I thank Jason for following my mother’s bizarre request.) After the funeral, the rest of the family joined my sister in her California king size bed (we had the kids watch cartoons in the other room in order not to scar them for life), and we watched the funeral video with her. I really hope it’s been deleted now.
On April 10, 2001, we received our blessing. Emily Faith was born healthy and not so happy at the time, but happy later. She is so much fun. She looks very much like my sister, but acts very much like my brother-in-law, so it’s a funny combination. And she does a terrific job of fulfilling her role at torturing and tattling on her older sister, Marissa, and being the baby of the family. Today Emily is seven years old. She is our little princess and rules her kingdom with style, humor, and grace.
Happy 7th birthday Emily!
I love this picture. I think it sums up their personalities. Emily is holding her big sis, Marissa.
Emily and her daddy
Emily's kindergarten pic
At the time all this was going on, I met another girl around my age whose father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 15 days before my dad. Her sister was also expecting. Her father lived about a year or so longer than my dad, but her sister lost her baby. Life can never be predicted. I thank God for his mighty hand upon our lives no matter what the circumstance. May we trust him and his wisdom.
1 comments:
Erin said...
You seriously need to give tissue warnings... ;-)
Seriously, though.. great post. Very touching.