Today was a hard day. My long time friends, Steve and Vikki Jensen said goodbye to their 9 year old son, Luke, today. Steve and Vikki were youth leaders when Matt and I were in high school, and I've been blessed to call Vikki a friend as I entered adulthood.
Luke has battled AML Leukemia for the 2 and half years, and today, he went to be with Jesus. I am sitting here tonight and I think the weight of what it means to say goodbye to your child really means has finally surfaced. Steve and Vikki have honored the Lord every step of this journey with Luke. Luke LOVED the Lord and was so brave and fought hard. His siblings gave their bone marrow. Families and community have rallied. And today, Luke was healed. Thanking the Lord we have the Hope of meeting this brave boy again in Heaven. Joyful he is in pain no longer. Deeply grieving what my friends are going through.
Tonight, I squeezed my boys tighter, and had more patience than usual for thier nightly antics. I was thankful. I missed my daughter, hating that any number of days of her life have gone by without us kissing her goodnight. It seems so odd, that as they say goodbye to their precious boy, we are welcoming a new life into our family. Can't help but say to the Lord, "WHY??" Why do children have to get cancer? Why didn't the treatments work? Why, Why, Why did my friends have to say goodbye to their sweet boy? I don't understand. Through my tears, I do trust God. That he sees more than we do. I do believe we have precious hope of eternity with those we love who believe. I am so thankful that Jesus came, so we could have eternity with our Creator. So we can experience heaven with those we have loved on earth.
That hope gives me peace about the future. It doesn't take away the pain of the loss of this precious boy who impacted so many lives. Here's a snippet of the Jensen's story today in the local paper.
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