Today, I am in awe of God’s sustaining power and the faith that has carried this dear family for the past sixteen months. Everyone who has followed Sam’s story has witnessed faith in its purest resolve. We have been challenged to examine our faith, asking, “Would I be able to stand like that?”
Abbey, you are precious to me. We once shared weekly phone chats, comparing the developments of our twin baby boys and their older siblings. We shared our faith, our hearts and our life struggles. Through the years, our paths went different directions, but you are a friend that I could always connect with and we would pick up, right where we left off. In the past sixteen months, you have demonstrated a faith that is unlike any I have ever witnessed before. As you lived what is the worst nightmare of most mothers, you have not wavered from your hope and trust in the one true God. You have clung to him for your every breath and that faith has made thousands of us to examine our own hearts and ask, “Do I really trust God?” You have stood, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, declaring, “My God can, my God will and even if He doesn’t, He is good and He is God. I trust Him.” Thank you for baring your soul to thousands and welcoming us to walk with you. Truly it has been our honor to bear this burden with you.
Mike, I have been blessed to hear of the tenderness you have shown to Sam through the darkest hours he faced. Thank you for being an example of the heavenly Father’s love to him and for being by his side. Know that God goes before, He stands behind you and He will give you everything you need to continue to be the man He’s called you to be.
Claire, you are a devoted big sister and you have been attentive to Sam’s every need. You have stood by him, slept by him, and ministered to him. I pray that you will find comfort knowing that you did everything you could do to ease his suffering to offer him joy each day.
Joe, you were a comfort to Sam and your presence by his side offered strength that you will never fully comprehend. We know that the bond between twins is stronger than most bonds. Sam was not just your brother, he was your other half. You loss is tremendous and our twins ache with you in this loss. Know that God’s healing will always be greater than your pain, you can trust Him for every need you have.
Whetzel and Bowman families, I thank God for each of you and for the support and care that you have offered through the darkest hours of Sam’s illness. You have pulled together and held up this family and exemplified love and devotion. My prayer is that He who began a good work in your family will continue it to completion. He is faithful and He is able to take the ashes of loss and sorrow and turn them into beauty, for His glory. We know that Sam rests in heaven and that we will see him again. I pray that the days and the years that He gives to each of you will be full and that the promise of heaven will comfort your hearts.
To the community that has rallied around Sam and his family, I say thank you, thank you, thank you. I have been brought to tears often as I have watched you love them. Thank you for praying, caring, reading Sam’s page, sending cards, giving donations, showing up at events, buying T-shirts, making, selling and buying bracelets, donating items for his auction, bidding on his auction, taking meals, cleaning the house, working in the yard, volunteering in the market, and for the countless other ways you have supported Sam and his family. My hope and prayer is that this spirit of community will continue to shine and that you will not cease to offer what is in your hands to bless the Whetzels and others in the coming days.
One of the passages from Sam's funeral yesterday was Romans 8:18 "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." On Tuesday morning, I said to Abbey, "The level of your grief is the level of Sam's joy." She replied, "No, my grief has a limit. His joy does not.” This, my friends, is TRUE FAITH. Romans 8:38-39 continues, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment