Jesse's Birthday Party!

Thank you so much to everyone who helped us to celebrate Jesse's birthday. We had a very special party! I will try to post some pictures soon. I have had requests to post what I shared at the party (especially for those who were unable to attend.)

World Travels - Jesse’s 1st Year
You might think that we are an ordinary, local farm family, but the last year launched us into a life of world travels. After Jesse’s birth a few people shared a story with me called “Welcome to Holland”. In it the author compares the experience of having a child with a disability to going on a long-dreamed about trip to Italy. But as the plane lands you find yourself not in Italy, but in Holland. It’s not what you had dreamed or planned, and it takes some adjusting until you realize all great things about Holland. Well, we were quite surprised by Jesse’s diagnosis, but I thought I was well-adjusted to our new life in Holland. Jesse was a delight – so happy and content, with a beautiful smile, even while awaiting his heart surgery without being allowed to eat.

Then our next world travel began – with Jesse’s cardiac arrest and 35 day hospital stay. While in the hospital I wrote an entry on Jesse’s blog title “Welcome to Siberia.” We were no longer in Holland. We were in a cold, dark place, a place I definitely did not want to be. But even there, God was with us. God is always there. As Psalm 139:7 says “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” God will never leave us. It was in those darkest hours that we most clearly saw God’s miracles: the miracle of Jesse’s life – of his heart beating again; the miracle of how God provided for us – financially and emotionally, all the people who prayed for us and supported us. And through all of it, Jesse continued to be happy and content – even with 10 days of IV nutrition with only limited amounts of pedialyte to drink. I was so thankful to get out of Siberia and return to Holland. At that point I thought “We made it – Jesse is all better now and we can get back to our “normal” life. But once again things did not follow my plan. It seems that God still had (and has) lots of other destinations he wanted us to see. Jesse’s medical issues over the last few months have included pulmonary hypertension, possible asthma, and now possibly seizures. And rather than being “all better” he is now on more medications. I had once thought “oh, if we can only get through the heart surgery then everything will be ok.” Now I am struggling with accepting that maybe everything won’t be ok, that maybe Jesse will have some of these conditions for his whole life, and there is even the possibility that these conditions could shorten his life.

So where are we now, and what is our next destination? We aren’t in Siberia, and I don’t think we are in Holland. I guess we are just HOME. Home is the place where we are safe in God’s loving care – and where no matter what foreign country we may be in, we do not need to fear. I often have to remind myself of that by reading Isaiah 41:10:
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is the leader and he has a journey planned for us and our job is to follow – as he says, “Come follow me.” The Good Shepherd always provides for our needs with green pastures and still waters. Our job is to follow him to those green pastures, rather than to run away like a lost sheep. We cannot hide from God and if we stray he looks for us, correct us, and brings us back. HOME – a place where we remember that no matter what we are going through, God is always there, leading and holding us:
“even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 139:10)

God has blessed us with this wonderful child, Jesse, and I am so thankful to be able to celebrate his 1st birthday with him and with all of you. Thank you so much for all of your support and friendship. May we all continue to follow God, whether it be to Italy, or Holland, or Siberia, knowing that if we are his sheep we all have the same final destination - in Heaven with Him.