A Day to Remember

The date May 7th will always hold a special place in my heart.  May 7th, 2008 was an extremely sad day for my family, but it ended with rejoicing.

3 years ago today, my precious cousin, Joel Lee, passed away from heart complications.  He was a “normal” kid physically.  You would have never known he had received a heart transplant at age 7.  He fished, ran, played basketball, swam, rode bikes.  Normal.

He was not “normal” spiritually.  Joel was so mature for his age, and he truly loved the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his mind.  His life was an amazing testimony.

Joel was the youngest of 5.  I love this pic of their family.  Joel, Franci, Cooper, Amy Lauren, and Brett.  These are my cousins, and they are pretty special to me!

Joel  was kind, happy, caring.  He always had a little smirky smile on his face, and always had a soft little chuckle to accompany any conversation (just like his brothers and dad).  He loved children, and kids loved him.  There’s no hiding it, Joel was the family favorite (and when there are 35 grandchildren and great-grandchildren in one family, that is saying a lot about Joel!)

In mid April 2008, at age 17, Joel started having a few heart problems and went in for a routine procedure.  He was supposed to leave the hospital within a few days.  Instead, Joel was in the hospital for two weeks and finally left to be with the Lord on May 7.

I received a phone call at 10:00 pm, and fell into a puddle of tears in my closet floor. It was a sad day for our family.  I’m crying just typing about it.

How could it be possible?

Death is so final.

It’s the absolute end…and at the same time as a Christian, I know that it is only the beginning.

I know that Joel is running, biking, jumping, singing, and chuckling in HEAVEN with the LORD!  I know that he was told “Well done good and faithful servant!” and if there is any kind of commerce in heaven (which I highly doubt that there is) but if there is, my sweet entrepreneurial cousin is running the store in heaven!

As I was crying in my closet, trying to pack for the funeral, I realized the need for a pregnancy test.  Brad thought I had lost my mind.  He realized this was not the time to question me as I could barely talk.  He ran to Walgreen’s and he said he was walking through the aisle thinking to himself, “This is the biggest waste of $13 ever.  There is NO WAY this test is going to be positive.”

Guess what…

That’s right.

Somehow, and I mean SOME HOW I was pregnant.  My sweet husband’s first response was, “That’s not my baby!”  (Of course he was joking!!!)  We truly don’t know where she came from (no, we don’t need an explanation), but we know that this was the baby that the Lord had planned for us.  Oh, and I’m so very thankful for HIS perfect plans!

Joel passed away at 10:00 pm, and we found out about this new little life at 11:00 pm.  WOW!  What an emotional roller coaster.  I cried tears of joy when I found out about this little life.  It was amazing to see the circle of life in a matter of 60 minutes.

I was mourning the loss of Joel, and I know our family always will (especially his sweet mom, dad, brothers and sisters).  However, I was rejoicing for this new precious life at the same time.

We knew immediately that this child would be named after Joel.  (Side Note: We never find out what we’re having, nor do we decide on names until we are in the hospital.  I have mentioned that I’m a procrastinator.  Again, I know this stresses people out.)  Anyway, we knew we would use part of Joel’s name in our child’s name.  His name was Joel Dexter Lee.  We wanted to use LEE if we had a girl.  Since we already had Lilly, we couldn’t use just Lee.  We combined it with Anna, changed the spelling to make it more feminine, and we named our new little life, ANNALEIGH!  I often call her Leigh for short (or Pinky…which has nothing to do with anything).

At this point, I am rambling.  I’m sorry.  There is still a flood of emotions when I think about this day.  Death and Life.  Things that we as humans have a hard time comprehending.  Isn’t it wonderful to know that we have a God who controls it all.  His plans are good and perfect.  They are plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future.  (Jer 29:11)

As I was watching this video of Joel just now, Lilly Katherine walked in and asked if I was watching a movie of Preston.  He and Preston do look similar, and I realized that Joel was Preston’s age (7) when he had his heart transplant.  It makes me realize how little time we have on this earth.

It also makes me realize that I need to tell YOU that there is a God that loves you and cares for you and wants you to know him, REALLY KNOW HIM, and love him and have a relationship with him.

What does that mean?

Well, what does it mean for me to have a relationship with Brad?  I have to spend time with him, I have to communicate with him, I have to get to know him (continually), I have to trust him, I have to love him.  God desires the same things…He wants us to read his Word (you know, that book called The Bible), spend time praying and listening (something I honestly need to get better at), memorize scriptures, trust that his plans are perfect, and love him.  It’s simple, yet not always easy.

I honestly don’t know how anyone can go through life and not KNOW that the Almighty God is real and faithful and true.  I don’t know what people do if they don’t lean on the Lord.  I have just been restless lately knowing that some of you need to know that there is a wonderful God that loves you and desires a relationship with YOU.

I know that sounds cheesy and baptisty.  I know it does.  I am reading it as I type it, but those are the words I feel led to type…as cheesy and baptisty as they are…they are the Truth!  That’s my heart right now, and this is my blog, and you’re still reading it, so you must be needing to hear it. :)  (…you know that I love you!)  If you want to talk about it, please message me.  I’m certainly no Bible scholar or theologian, but I love the Lord and would be happy to talk to you about it.

So, that’s not exactly where I thought that post was going…but that’s where it went.

May 7th.  A day to remember for our family.  Reminds me I need to go hug some babies, because I know my time with them is fleeting.

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

-Matthew 11:28-30

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