Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

This is the only hymn that I wanted to sing at David's funeral. While there were plenty of other hymns to choose from, no other song seemed appropriate. I did not feel "Amazing Grace" or that it was "Well with my Soul." I could, however, say with confidence that God is faithful yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

And He has been faithful.

Over the past 15 months, He has continued to display His great faithfulness to our family. Although there are more ways that I can recount, I would like to share just one, which involves the story that He is writing in our son Benjamin's life.

In January 2010, Tom and I began to believe God for a miracle in David's life, and we both felt lead to involve our children in asking God to do the impossible. We did not go into this blindly. We knew that God might not choose to heal David, and we knew that this could potentially have a devastating effect on the fragile faith of our children. We also knew that we had to obey, and the results were in God's hands.

So, we prayed. Again and again, our family went before God Almighty in prayer, and we begged Him to heal our son and brother. We went before the elders of our church, and they prayed over us and anointed us with oil in the name of the Lord (James 5). And on that day, our pastor read from Daniel 3.

And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

And shortly thereafter, the time came for us to lay our "Isaac" at the altar of God. We did not know what the outcome would be, but we knew that the Lord would provide (Genesis 22:14). And He did provide, just not in the way we expected Him to.

In March of this year, the one-year anniversary of David's birth and death, our church gave us a children's Bible for the boys. We already had one, but for some reason this Bible was special. Benjamin brought it home and read it from cover to cover in two weeks. Then, he read it again ... four more times. And when asked to recount his very favorite story, he told the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3.

Amazing.

On his own initiative, Benjamin has continued to read the Bible almost every night. A couple of weeks ago, Tom read Benjamin the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22, and Benjamin asked how Abraham heard God speak to him. Tom explained that God gives His Holy Spirit to His children, and God speaks to His children through His Spirit. Benjamin told Tom that he wanted to become a child of God. And on that very night, Benjamin confessed his sin to God and professed his faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Benjamin was born again (John 3).

I do not think that it is a coincidence that Benjamin's favorite Bible story is in Daniel 3, nor do I think that it is mere chance that Benjamin was born into the family of God after hearing the story in Genesis 22. I am convinced that God used our prayers offered in faith for David's healing to begin a miraculous work of faith in Benjamin's life.

God works in mysterious ways. His ways are not our ways, but He is good, and He knows what He is doing. In the darkest days of life, and even in death, He is planting seeds that will spring forth new life, and the life that He gives can never be taken away.

Great is His faithfulness.

The Big Reveal

We are rejoicing today after a wonderful report from our 20-week ultrasound. Baby #4 looked healthy in every way, and all of the measurements were right on track with my due date. We are so grateful for this gift from God!

And ... much to our surprise after having 3 boys in a row ... we could hardly believe it when the ultrasound tech said ...


We decided to share the news with our boys by ordering a very special cake. We asked the bakery to ice the inside of the cake "blue for boy" or "pink for girl." The boys enjoyed cutting into the cake to discover the color inside.

Benjamin did not seem too surprised to find pink icing inside the cake. He said that he thought it was a girl. Caleb, on the other hand, was (and still is) convinced that the baby is a boy. Even though we told him several times last night that the baby is a girl, he still says that "bay-bay" is a boy, not a "grill."

Hmmm .... this should be interesting. Since Caleb is not too fond of "grills," this news of a sister is going to take a while for him to absorb. But that's ok. I'm sure that he will adjust, sooner or later. :-)

We are so thrilled that God has chosen to bless us with a fourth child ... and our very first baby girl!

A New Resident

Remember this picture?

I still have it saved as the background on my desktop. It is worth more to me than the world's most coveted painting.

Well, Tom and I are delighted to announce that a new resident has moved into the house. We are expecting our fourth child this October 5, and we are absolutely thrilled!

This pregnancy has been a difficult journey from the start, and there are days when I am filled with apprehension over all of the "what ifs." I am truly walking this out one day at a time, thanking God for every kick and wiggle along the way.

And I am learning to trust God a little more each day.

Please be in prayer for our family as we approach the 20-week ultrasound next week. This is a big milestone for us, as it is the appointment where we were told the devastating news about David's prognosis.

Thank you for your faithful prayers! Will keep you posted ...

Lent

Today is Good Friday. A day of death. It is the day that "darkness came over all the land," a representation of what this season of Lent has felt like to me.

I intended to observe Lent this year by giving up my quest for interior redesign. But, when I woke up on Ash Wednesday, I began to learn that God had plans for me to give up something much bigger than dreams of a home makeover. On the morning of March 9, as I was doing my daily Bible reading, I came upon the story of Elisha and the Shunammite woman in II Kings 4:8-36. The Shunammite woman had no son.

“About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your
arms.”

“No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!” But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

Several years later, the boy died in his mother's arms. She immediately lay the boy down and called to her husband saying, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”

So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”

“Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

So, Elisha followed the woman to her house, and he raised her dead son to life by the power of God.

Well, that sounded like a strangely familiar story, except for the part about the dead son being raised to life. I cannot tell you how many times I have said to God, “Did I ask you for a son, my Lord? Why would you grant me a child for whom I never asked, only to let him die in my arms?”

Later that Wednesday, a friend told me that she had recently heard a devotional that reminded her of me. I bet you can't guess what it was about.

Yep, you guessed it! Elisha and the Shunammite woman. This season of Lent was beginning much differently than I had planned. God was trying to get my attention in a big way.

So, what was I to make of all of this? Was I the Shunammite woman? If so, what exactly did God want from me? He had already taken David. What more did He want?

I began to feel like the rich man who came to Jesus asking, "What good thing must I do to obtain eternal life?” It was as if Jesus himself was looking right at me and saying, "If you wish to be complete, [give your children to me], and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." And I was full of grief because I did not think that I could give Jesus what He was asking me to give. Matthew 19:16-22.

You see, for me, it was not really my material possessions that I was idolizing, but my children. And who, but God himself, was going to chastise me for idolizing my children? Probably no one.

I began to realize that I had become a hoarder of blessings, namely my boys. I had been holding on to my children with fists clenched tight, begging God not to take them from me. Just like the Shunammite woman, I had been crying out to God, “No, my Lord! Please don’t disappoint me!”

I was believing a lie.

I had been telling myself that I could not have joy if God ever chose to take these blessings from me. I did not believe that every river that needed to flow for the joy of my soul would flow from Jesus. I did not trust that I would never, ever have to look anywhere else because His rivers are as many as the soul needs that I have. ~John Piper

And so, this Easter, my fists are beginning to open. With God's help, I am opening my hands to release my will to receive His. I am learning to trust that the water He has given will never dry up, for He is the source of endless streams.

And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Isaiah 58:11

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"
John 7:37–38

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.

LIFE Day Recap - Part #2

Rachel & Beth
In memory of David's LIFE, last week we, along with our kids, made cookies for an elderly neighbor who lost her husband a few months ago. We are so honored to take part in his special day and hope you find comfort knowing his LIFE continues to be a blessing...


Kevin & Dana's Family
Each of us wrote letters to someone who had impacted us eternally and encouraged us in Jesus. In each letter, we asked the person to write a letter to someone else in return. Parker wrote a letter to his teacher. Micah wrote a letter to his grandma, and Coley wrote her letter to a long time family friend.

My letter was to a woman named Judy, who used to be the director of a crisis pregnancy center. When I was in college, my teenage sister became pregnant. I went to the center for counseling myself. I later went through training to counsel women with crisis pregnancies. Also during college, a close friend of mine was pressured by her mother to have an abortion. I was so burdened by this, and again the ladies at the center ministered to ME. I have continued to support and stay in contact with Judy and the center. She retired this year. I am sure that countless children have been saved by her ministry and many have come to faith in Christ. It was through this center that my view of the sanctity of life was shaped as a very new believer. Judy has made an eternal impact on me and countless men, women, and children.



Katie
Even before doing anything about it, it completely touched me to think of you guys being open to God redeeming David's life and death in this way. Just thinking of this made a big difference in my perspective on a lot of little things that day - my attitude when something annoying happened, etc. It really encouraged me and challenged me to choose a better attitude, with more patience.

But I also felt drawn to participate in LIFE Day in a more proactive way, although it kind of made me nervous to step outside my comfort zone and reach out like that. We visited a friend from church who has MS. We had actually been planning to visit her anyway, but in light of LIFE Day, when we were together I asked her more about her struggles with the MS - something I had never done before. She's suffered from it for many years, and has never talked much about it, although I know she experiences a lot of pain and fatigue, and that it severely limits her. Asking her about it allowed me to hear more about what her life is like with MS, and although it was hard to hear in some ways, it felt good to know her more fully, if that makes sense. It was a wonderful afternoon.


Debbie & Mike's Family
We have a friend - single mom - who runs a horseback riding farm all by herself. She needed help doing some work on her house - so we took the kids and ripped up old carpeting, threw away a TON of stuff, cleaned and scrubbed, vacuumed and repaired stuff. It was awesome - thought of you guys the whole time, made the kids work hard - ha! Great experience to do together as a family, and I'm so glad you thought of it.

Tonya
In honor of David's LIFE day, I spoke with the chaplain at Gwinnett Medical Center, the hospital where David was born. I ordered a copy of Angie Smith's "I Will Carry You." The chaplain said that she will hold onto the book until a family with a baby that has a terminal diagnosis comes along, and she will present the book to them. I plan to write in the front cover that the book is given in honor and remembrance of David. I know this book touched your heart, and I pray it will touch someone else, too. Love you! Thank you for the opportunity and honor to be part of this. I will ALWAYS remember precious David Nathaniel.

Carrie
In honor of your beautiful baby boy and your amazing family....I sent out a few anonymous cards to some co-workers who I knew would need some sunshine today!! Praying that your day will be filled with sunshine from the legacy that David is already leaving on all of us!! :) Much love to you guys!!

Christina
I celebrated David's birthday by making marbled banana bread and giving it to all of the preschool teachers at my son's school with a note of love and scripture. Thanks for letting us be a part of his heaven day :)!

Julie
My LIFE promise is to remember to be patient and kind with my earthly children. It's harder than I ever imagined, but when I think 3 is crazy, I close my eyes and think of sweet David.

K & M
We visited David’s grave and prayed for all of the families who had buried babies in that cemetery.

Jen
Happy first Birthday to David. I'm excited about this idea and have loved seeing how God brought things together to celebrate it. In honor of his LIFE, I'm partnering with a friend's non-profit organization to expand the ministry to support and care for pregnant mothers in crisis situations, who have decided to give their babies up for adoption. For more information, go to Sally's Lambs. More info to come as we brainstorm other ways to bring people together to show God's love to these women. Love you Rachael. Thanks for spurring this on!

Amy & Chris
Chris took the opportunity to help a young man at the gas station who needed air in his tires and had arm/hand wrapped and bandaged from a deep cut to the hand. After speaking with him for a few short minutes, he went on to share why he seeks opportunities to show kindness--because of Jesus' ultimate kindness toward us.

I was busy working a consignment sale all week and after getting the bad phone call about Chris' aunt, another volunteer asked if I was okay. I shared with her a brief synopsis of his Aunt's condition and how this heart disease is all throughout Chris' family, but we were so thankful to see the hand of God in it. Chris was the first in the family to be diagnosed, and if it weren't for the free heart scans given to high school athletes, he could be dead. I went on to share a bit of Chris' testimony with her. She ended up sharing with me that her son and daughter have had arrythmias and have been undergoing some testing. She seemed discouraged and a bit fearful about it all. I simply shared with her that we have hope because of Jesus. I don't know where she is in terms of faith but she appreciated my story, and I was glad I took the opportunity to share. Thanks for this challenge! We love you!

NCF Prayer Team
We collected financial resources to help youth in Mkholombe, South Africa. This squatter camp is 90% AIDS positive and the youth see no hope. The poverty level in Mkholombe is unbelievable with only three water spigots for over 10,000 people and no electricity. It is our joy to share with these youth the love of Jesus and the hope he brings.

LIFE Day Recap - Part #1

Tom and I have been incredibly blessed by so many who celebrated David's birthday with us. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your participation! Over the next week, we will be posting our family's celebration of David's birthday, along with all of the things that each of you did in honor of David's life. I hope that all of you are as blessed as we have been by reading these stories.

Aunt Jenny & Harrison
Harrison and I had an awesome time bringing a smile to the many faces at Noble Village today! Harrison passed out chocolate candies and the people loved having a little guy around. This is something we will do again! It was so wonderful to bring a little joy to their day!



Laura & Ron
We have donated to an orphan scholarship fund in Kazakhstan in remembrance of David. In addition, we have written to missionaries in Kazakhstan to share your LIFE story and to encourage them in their mission work. This family (Doug & Shelley) was unable to bring a baby to full term, but have adopted and are fostering children from Kazakhstan as well as working in children’s school for poor children in Kazakhstan. I hope that through David's life they are blessed. Thanks for making the challenge to your friends. It was so worthwhile. Attached Doug & Shelley’s picture in Kazakhstan.


Mimi & Papa
In honor of David’s first LIFE celebration we are dedicating the weekend of February 18 through 20 to service. On February 18 we visited the Assisted Living Facility at Vienna Square in Winter Haven, FL, visiting and encouraging the residents. On February 19 we attended the annual Park Ministries Rally in honor of Dr. Melvin Maxwell. We helped prepare for the rally, helped during the rally and then after the rally. Park Ministries ministers to retired individuals living in 50 mobile parks in and around central Florida. The service was wonderful and emphasized Dr. Melvin Maxwell, the founder of Park Ministries by honoring him during the ceremonies. Dr. Maxwell is also the great grandfather of David Nathaniel Watson. What a great and fulfilling privilege it is to serve others and to have David Nathaniel Watson on this earth to hold and love for seven hours. We love you and miss you David but we will reunite with you in heaven someday soon.



Rachel & Terry
We decided to support some missionary friends in Japan for a year in honor of David’s little life. We have been talking about it for months, and his birthday spurred us on to jump on it and do it!!

Anonymous
I was a the grocery store and was approached by a man who was wanting money. He said he wanted it for groceries. Instead of telling him no and walking away like I usually do, I decided to take him in the store and pay for his food. He smelled strongly of alcohol, and I am sure he would have purchased more if I would have just given him money. Anyway, even after the shopping trip he pleaded for cash to use for the bus, and then he pleaded for a ride since he had so much to carry on his bike. I had to refuse both of those request, and for me more than helping him buy food....what I think was done that was more for God's glory was that I bent and served God by serving a man that normally I would say did not need or deserve what he was asking for. I believe God equipped me to be tender where I needed to be and firm where I knew I had to be. All credit to Him. The man's name is Albert. Please pray for his salvation.

Sheri's Family
I just wanted to let you know what an amazing day we had yesterday in honor of David's birthday. God worked it out so that all 4 of us were able to go to the "Oaks" on Post Road and visit w/a 94 year old gentleman whom we had never met before. We went late afternoon and visited with him for quite awhile and the comments afterward from our children were great. We are all planning to go back in a few weeks and help him celebrate his birthday. His name is Clarence and he is a native of Atlanta but his family is scattered and he never has any visitors. God truly blessed US yesterday and I hope He blessed you all as well with something truly special.

Michele
In church Sunday it came to me what I would like to do to honor David's memory. I am going use the letters in my niece's name, along with Sylvia Gunter's, ABC's of Who You Are in Christ, to send weekly encouragements to her. I sent the first one yesterday, M is for Masterpiece. I pray she will come to know herself and her all Loving Father through the personal promises and truths written in His Word.

Mike & Pat
It is hard to believe that a year has gone by since God allowed David to bless and continue to bless so many lives in a very short time. In honor of David's life and the life of another very special baby, we decided to donate money to help others in need.

Barb
I was so thrilled to read about your idea to honor David. I then thought, how in the world do I have time to do something even though my heart wanted to. My days are filled in caring for my mother and father right now. Then I remembered that I was having a birthday party for my mother's friend of 50 years who was turning 98 years old today. It was not a big party, just a time to get together and honor her many years and her many years of loving the Lord. So, I thought, this could be a way to honor David. God knows our days and for reasons we may never know his days for David were short and the days for Margaret are very long. But they both bring honor and glory to the Lord. It isn't much, but I just didn't want this time to slip away from me without communicating to you how much we still care and love you. I am so sorry for the pain you have had to bear but we all know that it is all for his Glory.