Day by Day

Day by Day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here.
Trusting in my Fathers wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure Gives unto each day what He deems best, lovingly its part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord himself is near me With a special mercy for each hour. All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me, He whose name is Counselor and Pow'r. The Protection of His child and treasure Is a charge that on Himself He laid. "As your days, your strength shall be in measure," This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then in every tribulation So to trust your promises, O Lord, That I lose not faith's sweet consolation offered me within your holy Word. Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, E'er to take, as from a Fathers hand, One by one, the days, the moments fleeting, Till I reach the Promised Land.

This hymn, 'Day by Day, has some meaningful words and thoughts. It seems like so long ago that I held and communicated with Joel. Sometimes it seems as though it is a dream. My heart sometimes wants to run away from the permanent absence of Joel. I try to take Josiah up in my arms and get the "feel" of Joel, but it just will not come.

Just as David said "he cried from the depths" I too, cry from the depths of this trial and continue to ask God for his mercy. I do feel the undergirding of your prayers, but the emotions are so strong. I miss him so much, we all do.

Day by Day we are thinking of Joel...
Here are some sweet memories of Joel from the children.

Caleb- (19) Joel was always a good little worker, I remember him helping me pick up a pile of trash. He put it in his little trailer, after we hauled it off he wanted to do some more work, we went to work on a fence. I also remember many times when Joel and Josiah would be playing together and Joel had somthing Josiah wanted, Joel would be so kind and sweetly give his toy to Josiah.

Daniel-(19) He would clean the bathroom with me. He would scrub and spray and think it was all so fun. I remember he would want me to put him in bed at night. He wanted me to fold his little blanket into a pillow and tuck him in. He would want me to lay on the floor by his bed. I also remember getting home from work and he would run to me wanting me to pick him up and hold him and I would take him in my arms. He would be so happy to see his Dosee (his nickname for Daniel). Around the house when Joel wanted Daniel to do something he would say "Dosee do it!"

Bethany-(17) I remember when Joel came home from his first round of chemo he wanted to go outside, so I bundled him up with a blanket and hat and carried him out. He wanted to go see the "shickens" as he called them. We were also talking together about the "shili" we were going to have for supper. (He had a hard time pronoucing his ch's).

Elijah-(16) One time Joel wanted to go to Tractor Supply and when we got there we got some candy bars. Joel did not want his, he wanted cheetoes, they didn't have them there so we had to go to a different place and get him his cheetoes!

Anna-(14) I remember back when Joel was younger he went through a span of a few days where he just seemed to be getting into everything. From getting into the toothpaste and toilet to pulling over half of my label maker tape out, opening the refrigerater door and climbing in trying to find "something" to getting into my camera charger, getting Elijah's flashlight, playing with the typewriter to beating the globe on the lights above the table with a teaspoon until it broke right above the cookies I was trying to make!
One morning he held up his 11 cents to Elijah and said "I'm saving this for a horse!"
Also one evening Mom was sitting at the computer when Joel climbed up on her chair, gave her a big squeezer hug and said "you're so cute!"

Micah-(12) Jeremiah, Josh, Andrew, Elijah and I went out in the pasture and built a fire and roasted marshmellows. We came back to the house and Joel came outside and realized what we had been doing. He wanted to do the same so Joel helped me gather sticks and I built a fire. Anna put a marshmellow on a roaster stick and he roasted it. He said "I'm going to roast a marshmellow and eat it!" I remember he was so happy to get to do it.

Andrew-(10) Dad and I went to wal-mart to get a saw. Hosie Jeremiah and Josh got BB guns. Joel and Siah wanted a flashlight like mine. He told me to "get him a black one."

Joshua-(8) Joel Hosie and Siah had empty supplement boxes and filled them with acorns and dirt, they had them in the tree house playing while the others were butchering chickens.

Jeremiah-(6) Mom would read a book about animal sounds. There was a frog that said Jug-a-rum. Joel would like that and laugh when he wasn't feeling good laying on his bed in the boys room.

Hosanna-(5) I remember he liked to play "Dads" (their version of playing house). When we went fishing he would love to throw sticks and rocks in the pond. He would ride on Josh on the trampoline pretending he was riding bulls with his hand waving in the air.

Josiah-(3) He would come up the stairs on the tree house and play with me, he would jump on the trampoline with me.

We cherish these memories with Joel. We are seeking to draw strength from the word and know that God is fulfilling his will and purpose. Though the days seem to have a lonliness to them, our home is filled with laughter and play and "loudness." We are blessed beyond measure. We are experiencing God's mercy and grace. Once again thank you for laboring for our family at the throne of grace, thank you for the heart felt words of encouragment to continue on. May our mighty God accomplish his wonderful will in every life that has been a part of Joel's Journey, through your prayers, tears, tangible gifts and resources. What a day of rejoicing it will be when our Saviour we shall meet and our loved ones and YOU!