LIFE Day 2014

This year marks the four year anniversary of David's birth. Sometimes it seems like longer because much has happened over the past four years, and sometimes it is hard to believe that the time has passed so quickly. I am thankful to say that the Lord has brought tremendous healing to my heart through these years.

We recently moved into a new house, which has a bigger yard and a playroom for the kids. We are thankful for this blessing. Sometimes I wonder if we would be able to live here if David were still with us because our new house has a lot of steps, and I question whether his weak body would be able to handle them on a daily basis. It may sound strange, but I still like to imagine life with him in our family. Even though he is not here with us, he is very much a part of our family, and we look forward to being reunited with him one day in heaven.

Because we have been quite busy with the move, we did not have as much time as usual to devote to David's birthday. This year, we decided to honor David's life by buying some preemie clothes for a baby girl whose mother chose to give her life even though she was suffering from severe preeclampsia and doctors warned her of the risks of continuing the pregnancy. Our friend was hospitalized for ten weeks, and her baby girl was born a couple of weeks ago weighing in at 1.4 pounds. I know that these types of decisions are not easy, and I applaud Julie for choosing life for her daughter, Violet.

Our family also signed up to assemble “Weekend Food Bags” for children in local elementary schools that have been identified by their school counselors as being in need of additional food for the weekend. I am excited to do this together. It's a great opportunity to serve Jesus and others as a family.

Here are a couple pictures from David's birthday this year. Thank you to our friends and family who remembered David with us. I love that his birthday is a special opportunity each year to Leave an Impact for Eternity by serving others in Jesus' name.

2013 L.I.F.E. Day Recap

I apologize for being inexcusably late in posting this update. Thanks to everyone who participated in and supported us for David's L.I.F.E. Day 2013!

We enjoyed a trip to the circus on David's birthday. We like to do something 

special to remember David on his birthday each year.

After that, we dropped off some supplies at Wellspring Living.

Brought in our neighbor's recycling bins.

And made some cards for the children that we sponsor in Kenya.

It was a good day remembering David and celebrating his sweet life.

Thanks to all of our dear friends and family who celebrated David with us. Your generosity was a tremendous blessing to us and many others!

Michele & David ~
This year my husband and I decided to buy your David Nathaniel a birthday present (a pair of track shoes) and give it to one of my husband's students, Trey. He delivered the gift yesterday (March 1st) in time for Trey's track meet. Although I don’t know Trey, David says he is a talented, hardworking, and dedicated high school student who lives with and loves his single mom.

Luke & Asa's Mommy ~
Today I was buying food for our Lenten food drive at church. To honor the sweet life of your precious David, I bought twice as much food as I had originally planned. Hopefully this food will feed someone in need in David's name. I know he's playing with Asa and watching over us all. They are our beautiful Angels.

Laura ~
1) Found two families ( a single woman and family with autistic child) who had the same surgery that my 8-year old son had that needed the same probiotic that we used after surgery. We had several months’ worth stored and no longer needed, so gave them our remaining boxes. Each box cost several hundred dollars so we were able to give some financial help to these families. Thankfully our son is doing so well he doesn’t require this medication at this time. 2) Our 5-year old daughter’s Girl Scout troop is planting winter herbs and vegetables this week in greenhouse to later plant in community garden. We will plant a row dedicated to David and donate the crop once it is ready.

Mom ~
Ministered to those in assisted living through time, music, and words of encouragement.

Jenn & Harrison ~
Made cookies for neighbors.

Kevin & Dana ~
Baked cookies for our neighbor whose wife died this year.

David & Lena ~
Took out neighbors' trash.

Brittney ~
Made a meal for a friend battling breast cancer.

Valerie ~
Helped a homeless man downtown with some food and connected him with a ministry nearby.

A dear friend~
Served our family on David's birthday by coming to our home and taking care of Benjamin, Caleb, and Esther while Tom and I spent some special time together.

Delighted Magazine Spring 2013

I am excited to announce that David Nathaniel's story is featured on page 76 of the Spring 2013 issue of Delighted Magazine. Thank you, Amanda Gomes, for sharing David's story.

http://issuu.com/delightedmag/docs/delighted_spring2013/1

Third Annual L.I.F.E. Day

March 1, 2013

3rd Annual David Nathaniel

LIFE (Leave an Impact for Eternity) Day

Well, friends, I haven't completely fallen off the face of the earth. I am still here, and I want to say "THANK YOU" to my faithful followers who are reading this post! 

Over the next week or so our family will be remembering David Nathaniel's small but powerful life by Leaving an Impact For Eternity (L.I.F.E.), and we welcome you to join us in our effort to bring LIFE to others.For 2013, our family's theme verse is Isaiah 1:17. 

"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." 

In January, we began supporting two orphans in a Kenya, Anon and Millicent. For David's birthday, Benjamin and Caleb are making something special to send to these precious children.

Our family is also getting involved with an organization called Wellspring Living. Wellspring Living's mission is to confront the issue of childhood sexual abuse and exploitation through awareness, training, and treatment programs for women and girls. Wellspring desires for these young women to see God’s love and hopes that they will want to explore a relationship with Him for themselves. 

If you would like to join us in David's L.I.F.E. celebration, here is how you can participate:

1. Sometime around David's birthday (March 1st), do something to Leave an Impact For Eternity. It can be for a stranger, a friend, a family member, etc. You can do one thing, or several things. For some ideas, click here.


2. Come back to this blog and leave a comment letting us know how you celebrated David's birthday with us (tell us about your act of LIFE), or email me your act of LIFE along with a picture, if you have it.

Colossians 3:12-14 has been our guide for the past two years in remembering David. It says, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

When we, as believers, “put on” this type of life, we are inviting the world around us to live a new way, an eternal way. The invitation is not to embrace a new ethic but to embrace Jesus that offers this new life (Col 3:1). So, in celebration of David’s 3rd Annual LIFE Day, our goal is to “put on” this kingdom of God mindset so that we might leave an eternal impact.

If you would like to spread the word about our LIFE celebration, please feel free to copy our invitation at the top of this post and put it on your blog, or link this page to your Facebook or Twitter account. Thank you for remembering the life of our son, David Nathaniel, with us.

Mercy and Compassion

Seven months ago, Esther came into this world and into our home. Words cannot express the tremendous joy and healing that she has brought to our family. Though I will always miss David, I thank God that my arms are not empty anymore.

This time last year, I could barely be in the same room with a baby, let alone hold one. I forced myself to hold two babies between David and Esther. While both of these sweet babies are very special to me, holding them in my arms felt completely unnatural. Though I was a mother of three, the deep pain inside my heart suffocated my motherly instinct.

As I remember these moments of heartache, I can hardly believe that they took place just last year. The transformation that my heart has undergone in the last seven months amazes me. I am incredibly grateful to my Heavenly Father who is full of compassion and mercy (James 5:11). I want to shout from the rooftops, "Hallelujah, God is so good!"

If it were not for the loss of David, I do not know if I would have decided to leave my job to stay at home with my kids. And though raising three little ones is a challenging and exhausting task, there is no job in the world that I would rather have. Every moment and every memory is precious, and that sweet baby girl is healing balm to my heart.

God's ways and His plans continue to be a mystery to me, but His steadfast love is undeniable.

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall...Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness...Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love (Lamentations 3:19-32).

If you find yourself in the deep, dark night of suffering right now, do not despair. Joy will come in the morning. He will turn your wailing into dancing. He will remove your sackcloth and clothe you with joy (Psalm 30:11). He will bring healing to your heart that you never dreamed possible.

I know because that's exactly what He has done for me.

2012 L.I.F.E. Day Recap

The days surrounding David's birthday were difficult.  The feeling of sadness was tough to shake as we remembered our short time here with David.  While we celebrated the hours of his life, we mourned the years that will never come to pass.

Our L.I.F.E. celebration brought a ray of sunshine to our week.  We made and delivered 264 cookies to our neighbors for David's birthday.  Each knock on the door was greeted with a different reaction...many smiles, a few looks of confusion, and a couple of questions as to whether we had recently moved into the neighborhood. All in all, our trip around the neighborhood was a success, and we hope it is the beginning of many new friendships.

Tom did a great job baking,

I did my best to make the packaging pretty,

and off we went to deliver the cookies.

Thank you to everyone who remembered our family during David's birthday week.  We were comforted and blessed by each phone call, email, and card that we received.

And special thanks to each friend and family member who participated in David's L.I.F.E. celebration:

• Aunt Jenny brought a meal to family at church who was welcoming home a new baby;

• Nina and Pawpaw shared cookies with their neighbors;

• Michelle made cupcakes for the NICU at the hospital where her twin sons were born;  

• Julie and Ben reached out to their neighbors and invited them to a party in celebration of Julie's baptism;

• Stacy celebrated David's life by blessing someone on his birthday;

• Marye spent special time with her grandsons;

• And several dear friends made donations to the David Nathaniel Giving Fund.

Second Annual LIFE Day

March 1, 2012

Second Annual David Nathaniel

LIFE (Leave an Impact for Eternity) Day

It is hard to believe that we will be celebrating David's 2nd birthday 10 days from now. Every time that I think of him or look at his picture, my heart longs to see him again. I am so thankful that one day, I will.

Over the next couple of weeks our family will be remembering David Nathaniel's small but powerful life by Leaving an Impact For Eternity (LIFE), and we welcome you to join us in our effort to bring LIFE to others.

Here are the details on how you can participate:

1. Sometime around David's birthday (March 1st), do something to Leave an Impact For Eternity (LIFE). It can be for a stranger, a friend, a family member, etc. You can do one thing, or several things. For some ideas, click here.

2. Come back to this blog and leave a comment letting us know how you celebrated David's birthday with us (tell us about your act of LIFE), or email me your act of LIFE along with a picture, if you have it.

The Biblical basis behind this idea is found in Colossians 3:12-14, which says, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

When we, as Christians, “put on” this type of life, we are inviting the world around us to live a new way, an eternal way. The invitation is not to embrace a new ethic but to embrace Jesus that offers this new life (Col 3:1). So, in celebration of David’s Nathaniel's LIFE Day, our goal is to “put on” this kingdom of God mindset so that we might leave an eternal impact. For more information, please click here.

This year, our family will be loving our neighbors as an act of LIFE. David's birthday, March 1, will mark the 10th anniversary of the day that we moved into our home. During our 10-year tenure in this neighborhood, we have failed in many ways to share the love of Jesus with our neighbors. However, we have repented from this and resolved to be obedient to our calling as followers of Christ.

As a first step, we are reaching out to our neighbors by bringing each family some homemade goodies and attaching a note explaining the reason behind the celebration of our son David's life.

If you would like to spread the word about our LIFE celebration, please feel free to copy our invitation at the top of this post and put it on your blog, or link this page to your Facebook or Twitter account. Thank you for remembering the life of our son, David Nathaniel, with us.