Final LIFE Day Recap

David’s first birthday was filled with mixed emotions for us. We were thankful for the opportunity to celebrate his life in an eternal way by “setting our minds on things above;” yet we were sad to think of all of the memories that we never had the chance to make with him here on earth.

During the day, I thought a lot about Benjamin and Caleb’s first birthdays. I remembered how Benjamin cried when he dug his hands into his first birthday cake because he did not like the icing all over his hands. Caleb, on the other hand, dug into his cake with heart and soul. We have the cutest pictures of him with icing all over his body. For some reason, the thought of David making a mess of his birthday cake really hit me hard, and I missed him deeply.


We received the sweetest card from a dear friend. It is the same friend who wrote to us 17 months ago, "I have been lifting you and your son before the Throne of our Almighty God and Father. He is truly the Father of all compassion and also the worker of miracles. As I prayed for your precious son according to Psalm 139, I sensed Him telling me to pray for him 'by name'."

Providentially, the card she sent for David's 1st birthday said, “As I turned my calendar from February to March this morning, on March 1, it was written ‘St. David’s Day.’ I smiled at the sovereignty of God.” God never ceases to amaze me with His involvement in the smallest details of our lives.

Tom and I have been incredibly blessed by the outpouring of love from so many of you who remembered David with us on his birthday. We continue receive messages from people who joined us in honoring David’s LIFE, and we have loved reading each and every story. For this recap, we would like to share some of the things that our family did to remember David on his first birthday.

Compassionate Hearts
Our family supports Vijiji Projects (a children’s home in Kenya) on a regular basis, but we wanted to go beyond our regular giving to meet an urgent need. The home has 30 children and 2 bathrooms, one of which is an outhouse that is in need of cleaning out. Who would have thought that cleaning a toilet in David’s honor could make such a difference?


In addition to helping Vijiji, Tom was able to help a friend who is going through a difficult time with a bathroom project. Also, Benjamin and Caleb made cards for their great-grandparents.


Patience
I tend to have a difficult time during the day just spending uninterrupted time with my family. It seems that a "to-do" list is forever forming in my mind with things that need to be done around the house, at work, etc. To honor David, my lists were suspended, and my family received the uninterrupted time they deserved.

Bearing with one another
There is a baby boy named Asa who who visited this earth for a short time at the beginning of last year, and he is buried very close to David. In memory of David and Asa, we took dinner to Asa's family, and Benjamin and Caleb picked out a birthday present for his twin brother Luke who recently celebrated his first birthday.


A Couple of Other Things
We sent cards to a some families who also lost babies, and we mailed a gift card to pay for dinner for neighbor of a friend who has been experiencing seizures and has four young children.