Now that is caring from the heart...

This past weekend we were super blessed with the opportunity to go back to our home church (prior to seminary life) for their 150th celebration...

Greg was asked to preach at all the services Sunday... 

We even got to be a part of their 150th gala celebration dinner on Saturday...

It was a joy to be in the midst of precious friends once again:)

Today, to start the service the youth director/ 8th grade teacher, whom we had known well in our days serving there, started the service with a remake of a human video that Greg had done with the teens when he had first started serving there almost 10 years ago...

It was to the mercy me song... I can only imagine... Greg had started the tradition of using human videos there and they have continued doing them since we left...

It was beautiful seeing the kids act it out... They did a great job and then at the end it happened...

Picture after picture, the kids held up...

Sweet Pastor Krug, who had served with Greg there, but has since gone to Heaven not too long ago...

One by one... Saints who have gone before us... 

The previous pastor...

A members dad...

The sweet lady who had served lunch to the school kids... 

Another's older member...

The choir directors husband...

And then there it was... Our precious infant son Samuel...

The tears came ... From me... And as I looked down the row... From almost everyone of our kids...  

And not just us...(In fact it was precious... The youth director was choked up as he was introducing the human video ) 

We didn't lose Samuel while serving at this church...  We lost him years later while already serving in our first congregation in OK after the seminary...

But yet he mattered to them... 

We mattered to them... 

His precious life counted and had value to them even though he never lived outside of me for a moment... 

And for that precious time yesterday, this mama will be forever grateful... 

I am sure some might have thought... We can't include him... That is kind of inappropriate, a picture of a stillborn baby, a baby that was already dead... And that could have been the end of it...

 But not yesterday... Not for a moment, that young lady boldly held up the picture of my son already with jesus....  Without a bit of hesitation...

 What an impact on my heart!  I can not tell you what that means to still 6 1/2 years later to have someone mention him, show a picture of him, ask me to speak about him... 

To do the much harder thing, when at this point no one would have even expected him to even be mentioned...

And why is that so with mentioning? When you have been on the other side of things, when people clearly knew you when you were expecting, and yet even a week or two later, after his death couldn't mention it... Couldn't talk to you... You know that kind of boldness, caring, and  tender heart to willingly step out doesn't come naturally in the situations surrounding stillbirth... Yes, our son was born still...

 But he was still... born...

And you feel that with a sting time and time again... My baby didn't count to them...

And yesterday you feel it... But a totally different wonderful feeling surrounding your baby...

Yesterday I felt the body of Chrsit at work, in a BIG BEAUTIFUL way!!! Supporting still...

Loving still...

Being the hands and feet even to us as a pastors  family no longer in their midst on a daily basis... STILL...

That doesn't always happen and isn't taken for granted for a second...

What a gift to my heart right from the hand of God, who at this moment my Samuel, is getting to be in the presence of continually...

So very thankful for the kindness and love of people and for the amazing, ever present hope of Heaven...