Joel's Journey: Hope and Life...

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Hope and Life...

It does not have to be January 23 for me to re-play all that took place, the 23 rd of each month seems to hold those memories. I was especially blessed that Easter fell on the 23rd. It gave me hope in the midst of my sorrow in thinking of Joel. As I have thought about death, life and the resurrection, it has a whole new meaning. How could we continue on in this life if we did not have hope in the life to come, death will come for all. It is the passage way to real life, eternal life, living forever with the Lord and with our loved ones. Of all the difficult situations with Joel, his diagnoses, the tests, the pain he endured and the unknown, the hardest was after he took his last breath (after holding his body for sometime) having to lay the body that held Joel on the bed and to turn and walk away and leave the body that I birthed, nourished, loved on, dressed, bathed, mended the hurts on, wiped the tears from and held. There are no words to describe that feeling. That day my heart was in such turmoil, I was not looking ahead, Now as time has passed and scriptures have ministered to my heart I have hope that the little body that was battered, bruised and swollen will be raised up one day... and it all because Jesus had triumphed over sin, death and hell!!!! The resurrection is more than a story, it is my hope that I will see Joel again. It is with that hope that is before me that I can even go forward in this life. These verses are wonderful words of life and hope, they tell me what Jesus has done, they tell me of his Victory over death.

John 1:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.

John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life...

Luke 14:36...nevertheless not what I will but what thou wilt

Matt. 28:6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said...

It is because of the above verses that I can embrace these verses that I have hope to see Joel again.

John 16:22 And ye now therfore have sorrow but I will see you again

Ps. 55:18 He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me

Ps.49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall recieve me

Ps. 23:6 ...and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever

Ps. 61:7 He shall abide before God forever

Ps. 73:26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever

It has been a day of peace in my heart as I think of what is before me, I still miss him, I missed getting him ready for church this morning, I miss him so much, but one day because of this day that we emphasize the resurrection, there is hope. There is hope everyday!!!!!

We took a family picture, we do not have all the "Easter fluff" on but I had to take it for my "records." I will tell you all about it...we told everyone to close their eyes due to bright sun and then open when you hear the beeps getting closer together... Micah did not follow instructiions:) Mercy's hair is in a dither, and Terry's tie is all lopsided and undone and if you look at me, it looks like I have my legs spread out, but its really Terry's knee!!!!Oh well, I got my picture and mama's happy about that!!!!! I wanted to share a picture at the cemetary to remind myself that Joel is not there, he is living with the Risen Lord!!!!!!

He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!!!!!

Cindy

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Cindy,
I loved the picture. Micah didn't need to open his eyes. If he looked any better with them open, it would be to much to take in. He's so handsome!!! Mercy's hair wouldn't be as cute and adorable if she had it all neat and plastered and groomed. It looked like a precious little girl. I only saw Terry's sweet smile--never even noticed a crooked tie. I'm still trying to figure out where in the world you saw that 'legs spread out' thing. I looked and looked and couldn't see it. You looked great as always. Before I haven't been able to comment on your blog. It looks a little different so I'm trying it again. I love you, Ann; March 24, 2008 at 9:49 PM

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Joel's Story

Joel, our 11th of 13 and a twin of Josiah, at age 3 was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer, on December 6th, 2006. Joel had three perfect years of health and he and Josiah celebrated their 3rd birthday Sept. 13th, 2006. The first of Oct. Joel started having unexplained fevers for a few days and would return to active play. After the fourth round of fevers we took him to our family Dr. which they said his iron was low, so we treated that for a few weeks and took him back only to have his hemo. showing lower than before. We were referred to a hematologists and saw him a few weeks with blood checks twice a week. At a visit on Dec. 4th we showed the Dr. the bumps, (which were tumors but we did not know at the time) on Joel's head and he was very concerned and we were told we needed to admit him immediately and start extensive tests the following day. Joel went through rigorous testing and then the dreaded results were given. Joel was at a stage IV the most extensive stage, but we were hopeful that the Lord would use the means of Chemotherapy treatments to restore Joel's body. Joel endured 8 1/2 days in the hospital, came home for Christmas, and returned for his second round of chemo Jan. 3, 2007. Joel had a seizure that night after midnight and went into a coma due to a tumor bleeding in his head area and causing his brain to swell. After tests the following days, the Dr. declared Joel "brain dead" and took us to court to force us to take Joel off life support, as we did not agree with the medical field's definition of death. Our family sought to stand with the scripture, "life is in the blood,"and until Joel's heart quit beating naturally, he was living. We were making arrangements to bring him home and on January 23, 2007 his little heart stopped beating and he went to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven. Our lives are changed forever. God is faithful in the midst of this trial and we look with great hope to be with him someday.