Peace
(doodle based on this photo)
When I was pregnant with Ezekiel, friends from college shared the good news that they were also expecting a baby. We were due within a few weeks of each other, and God gave us sons born just five weeks apart. For the first year of Ezekiel's life, I have prayed for them and their precious son Oliver. I know many of you also have, as they shared Oliver and their joys and struggles with us and as they shared their deep grief.
Joel and Sonya have three beautiful children, but God chose to bring Oliver to Himself on Easter Sunday. Oliver's life taught me much, as has Joel and Sonya's year-long response to joy and sorrow mingled. They drink this bitter cup, and they honor Him still. In the center of questions, longing, and loss, I pray God bolsters them surely and the Comforter continually draws near.
May it be so.
7 comments :
Thanks for sharing this, Abigail.
Abigail, that is beautiful and such a grace-full likeness of them both. I am thankful for your art.
You're welcome/thank you both.
I almost didn't post this because the grief is not mine, though I've shed many tears for them. I pray the knowledge of so many of us who love them gives them some support despite the miles that stretch between.
an absolute treasure.
Beautiful, treasured art and words of love. We've prayed for them during this time- unfathomable as it is.
Abigail - Sonya has shown me your blog many times. Its a lovely journal of your life and family, its inspirational, and just frankly - beautiful and lots of fun to look at. Tonight I see the art piece of Sonya and Oliver, through Joel's blog. Thanks so much for sharing this, for doing it (for them). Its precious and I'm sure it touched Sonya's soul. I know it touched Joel's, as he shared. I had forgotten your little boy was the same age. I look at Oliver's pictures often and was blessed to be there often to help and to share their journey - even during her pregnancy. Its a joy to see your healthy active little boy! It is real to me and yet often surreal that Oliver's life was not to be normal. At his birth, it was nearly impossible to not hope and believe that he WOULD be like us! I have learned so much more about my daughter through this life experience. I am humbled. Thank you, Abigail.
This simple painting was such a small thing, but I felt the need to make it after first seeing that photo of Sonya holding Oliver. I was greatly moved by the way it captured her deep love for her son.
I am grateful for Joel and Sonya's willingness to share their precious boy with those of us who were not able to meet him on this side. I feel like I know Oliver, and God used him for big things in the short space of time he was given on earth. I am thankful for his life.
I have admired both Joel and Sonya throughout this walk. They are bearing the heaviest of burdens, but even with the weight of sorrow, they shine forth as gold. I steadily pray for their continued comfort and look forward to one day greeting your grandbaby-- a little boy that so many of us grew to love even though we never met him.
Blessings on you!
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