Joel's Journey: Josiah is 5 !!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Josiah is 5 !!

Josiah is 5

Happy Birthday Josiah, WOW, a whole hand
Your growing up, before you know it, a young man

I love our sweet times on the edge of my bed
Each morning a hug, no words have to be said

A party, family, cake and balloons will surround
I think Joel will get the best..... a crown

You can do so much at five years of age
Climb trees, ride sheep and bikes, you are so brave

Toys, a BB gun and a Bible for you
Our prayer that soon, a heart made new

"Jehovah heals" is the meaning of your name
Go Forth!! tell the Good News, Jesus proclaim

As birthdays come and go, always Joel's twin
Your lives bound together, beginning to end

I love you so much, a blessing you are
Joel and Josiah, so dear to my heart!

We had a great time celebrating Josiah's 5th birthday and remembering our sweet Joel! Josiah opened a gift that I got for Joel, it was in the picture above, one of the Willow Tree keepsakes, it is a little boy holding a balloon that says "Birthday Boy." Josiah requested our all time birthday meal....hamburgers, hot dogs, chips. He wanted cup cakes and sugar cookies, so Anna took care of all that. We found a cookie cutter that was a hand since he is a whole hand old!! Jeremiah, Hosanna, Josiah and Mercy each had 5 balloons that they sent up to Joel....once again like last years picture sending the balloons up, Josiah looks on with wonder and curiosity!!

Thank you Lord for Joel and Josiah, what a blessing you are to us!!!!!

Your mommy

4 comments:

LJR said...: Happy birthday Josiah! I was thinking of you and your brother Joel when I woke up this morning. Today is my son Derek's birthday too. He is 7. We are making sundaes later and having them for dinner! We will be thinking of you when he blows out his candle and hope you have a wonderful day!; September 13, 2008 at 11:10 AM
Danielle said...: Happy Birthday Josiah!!!!!!! WOW! You look SO much older now, all grown up! :) I hope you had a WONDERFUL birthday!!! :)

Love, Dannie Mistina; September 13, 2008 at 8:46 PM
Anonymous said...: Happy Birthday Josiah! 5 is fun. Your presents look to pretty to open, but I'm sure you didn't have a problem with that. :o) My daughter turns 4 on Monday, but we are having a birthday party for her tomorrow. She is so excited. Hope you had a great day.; September 13, 2008 at 10:26 PM
Anonymous said...: Happy Birthday Josiah!

Is that a Special Forces shirt he's wearing?!?! YaHooo! Jeremy just followed some of those incredible soldiers around the border of Iraq and Iran a few days ago, filming what they did. Very interesting. . .lots of interesting stories to hear!; September 19, 2008 at 8:04 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.