Joel's Journey: 23 years later.....

Sunday, November 8, 2009

23 years later.....

23 years later...... he still tells me he loves me many times a day, he still wants to be like newlyweds, he still seeks the Lord with all his heart, he still leads our family, he still works hard, he still enjoys spending his time with our children more than other things, he still is handsome, he still loves me..... 23 years later!! I love you too!! Happy Anniversary!!

9 comments:

Maureen said...: Congratulations! Your pictures are so sweet. Have a great day!; November 8, 2009 at 7:04 PM
j said...: Congrats!!!! You both are a good looking pair!!

Jessica; November 8, 2009 at 8:01 PM
-stephanie- said...: So beautiful. Happy 23rd Anniversary!; November 8, 2009 at 9:57 PM
The Ahlgren Family said...: WOOHOO!!! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to you two, or rather, to you one!!! :)
Thank you for being a living example of a godly and joyful marriage! Thank you for being a positive example of openly loving one another, and with joy! We are so blessed to have you in our lives! May our Lord bless you with many more adventurous years together for His glory, and so that we may have many more years of "competition" with ya'll! We love you! :); November 8, 2009 at 10:23 PM
Janet said...: Congratulations! You're clearly an inspiration to many! Thank you fro sharing your happy family tales with us! I look forward to reading about your family and their antics! :); November 9, 2009 at 2:16 AM
Jessica said...: Happy Anniversary! What a wonderful legacy you are passing on to your children.; November 9, 2009 at 5:14 AM
Teena said...: Yes, an awesome legacy! LOVE the pics!

Hugs
Teena; November 9, 2009 at 7:47 AM
Missy said...: Our family just loves your blog but I rarely post so I thought I would today. Those pictures were great. Happy Anniversary! Missy in TN; November 9, 2009 at 8:43 AM
The Lockwood Family ♥ said...: Happy Anniversary! You both look so young, so happy, and what testimony to how God made marriage to be.
love and prayers,
Jayhee; November 9, 2009 at 1:00 PM

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.