The Spirit, it groans within me. Not uttering a human word but only those to The Heavenly Father that bring a peace in the midst of such sadness. Words that bring me strength where I only possess weakness.
And I'm left here with what feels like a forever mourning. Mourning this slow death of my third born child. A boy whose being is so bright, it cannot be snuffed out- not with a million seizures, not with another dose of meds, not even with his final breath. His light comes from something deeper and truer than even the light of the sun.
The enemy. He will not be satisfied. He will and is rejoicing, if he can even do such a thing, with every healthy section of Zeke's brain that is burned by the acid leaking in. The enemy, he thinks he's winning. He is so engulfed in lies, he cannot see the truth. He has been cackling that evil cackle for far too long, believing the lies that come from himself and those that work for him. But even he must sense it's coming. The suffering is coming to an end.
The heavenly angels voices must be getting louder and I see the enemy becoming afraid. The light is shining brighter and he's becoming confused.
"NO! NO! He's DIEING! Don't you SEE?! YOU'RE LOSING!", he says as he frantically looks around for a place to hide.
But again, he's convinced he's going to win so the enemy presses on, trying to drown out the beautiful, heavenly voices. The glory of the Lord shining ever so brightly as Zeke gets closer to His heavenly Father.
The enemy will not be satisfied for what he sees as death is what we know as an end to suffering and Zeke's entering into a beautiful eternity.
Zeke's fading and yet he's only getting closer to becoming whole and complete.
This truth is bizarre and hopeful. This suffering and eventual death, what we see and mourn here on earth are exactly what is getting him closer to his eternal home. A place where it will not even be a distant memory.
When tears replace song I remember, Jesus is making all things new. #prayforZekey
Photo Credit: Me (BreeLoverly via Instagram)
Zeke was so tired but couldn't fall asleep as the familiar sound of his daddy kept him alert and not wanting to miss a moment of comfort that Andy brings him. And when the music is played and our voices sing out, I held his hand while my other in the air, taking the opportunity here on earth, to join with my boy, who is closer to the Saints who have gone before us in worshipping our God, our King, together as The Body of Christ. What an honor.
After the message, I felt an urge to give my now sleeping Zekey over to "Grandpa Nate" (my father-in-law) so I could stand next to my husband in more worship through music. Little did I know, it was just the nudge he needed in order to share what was put on his heart to share with the congregation.
"Unless God intervenes, this could be Zeke’s last chance to offer Grace Church a Christmas greeting. Unfortunately, Zeke is a young man of few words. So Grandpa Nate is going to take a shot at filling in the gap.
God can take a small life lived on earth and “map” it to huge, wonderful, and totally unexpected things in eternity. Here on earth, while we grown-up mortals try to make sense of what has happened to Zeke… under the radar… lives are being touched, hearts are being softened, and plans re-ordered. What looks like a small, insignificant life is one that is going to have eternal significance.
Grandpa Nate’s hope is that, in heaven, a tall young man will walk up, perhaps with a bunch of other people in tow, reach out a strong steady hand, look me in the eye, and in a strong clear voice say “I thank God for the small life he laid out for me to live on earth. It was an honor. It was a privilege.”
-Grandpa Nate Holt
As you can
imagine, there was not a dry eye in the room. Andy's message, Nate's heart and
Zekey's story were all used by God in big ways today.
A lot of us
have lives less than perfect. There is something or someone missing or something
we long for. This is where we can take the story of Christmas and apply it into
the deepest wounds, the loudest sobs, the biggest fears, the forever mournings
and see it as a way to connect our lives here on earth, to an eternal life
where we will long no more.
"Christ has come.
Your long exile is over. Lift up your eyes and, by faith, find your way home in
him." - Andy Holt
Ya see,
Christmas isn't about family and friends, gatherings and traditions. Heck, it's
not even about learning to give over receiving- Christmas is about a God whose love was
so good and true and pure, that He came down to a corrupted place as earth, in the form of a baby, to give us a hope that we had our King and we'd been
rescued and forgiven.
Today, we
wait for his second return. He died the perfect death so we could live. Will
you grab ahold of this story and start weaving yours into it? And if you
already walk this life with the hope of Jesus, won't you declare it a little
louder, share it a little more? "Go tell it on a mountain!" if you will? It's a story worth telling. It's a story
that will end the forever mourning.
