Joel's Journey: Mercy is 3 !!!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Mercy is 3 !!!

Joel~ 2-1/2 & Mercy

Today Mercy is 3!!! What a precious blessing this little girl is to our family and to my heart! She is still being fought over, tugged at and chased by all her brothers, from the oldest to the youngest, she's very popular!!! Mercy has literally been a little candle in this dark trial, she has been a ray of sunshine, she has given me smiles and laughs when I did not feel like it! I am so thankful for the Lord's Mercy to us! Mercy is our little queen, she has us all wrapped around her fingers, toes, hands and mostly our hearts!! She loves to swing about as much as Joel and Josiah!! I tell her of Joel and she talks of "Balley" and Joel and says "he's up in heaven" in such a sweet way. She helps Anna make desserts, she folds little towels in the laundry and she likes to sleep in mommy and daddies bed!!!!:) Of all the children she looks like Joel and does so many things as he would, her expressions and frolic are sweet reminders. Our prayer for Mercy is that soon in her heart the Lord would call her and give her the gift of faith and repentance and she would follow the Lord all the days of her life. We pray the Lord will give her a husband that would love her sacrificially as Christ loves the church, that she would be fruitful with thousands of millions, Gen. 24:60. That she would love Christ and serve Him with all of her being!! Mercy is having a "Farm Baby Party." Bethany said she is going to have MORE baby goats today, (likely) and we are getting more chicks here in a little while, so that is perfect for our party!! We are going to have her party at lunch, the guys are here so I will post some pictures after lunch!! Happy Birthday, Mercy, we love you!!!!!

1 comment:

Cheryl said...: Happy Happy Birthday sweet Mercy, the B's love you!!!; March 19, 2009 at 10:48 AM

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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.