Kevin and the boys were following behind us, and as we entered onto our street, the driver said, ‘Which house is it?’ Then he stopped mid-sentence to say, ‘Oh… oh never mind, you’ve got quite a crowd waiting.’ My family had surprised us and gathered tons of friends and neighbors to line the streets of our cul-de-sac with banners and posters and balloons, and they were loudly cheering.
Leslie Duffield
I looked out the ambulance window and started bawling as I saw the crowd so excitedly yelling for Ellie. As we drew closer, I couldn’t help but think about heaven and how I could taste a small glimpse of what it will be like entering into the streets of heaven one day. Ellie has had a whole world out there just waiting for her, yet the only life she knew for the past 6.5 months was within the four small walls of Room 23 in the Infant Toddler Unit at Children’s.
There are no words to describe how wonderful and amazing it was to welcome our daughter home after 195 days in the hospital. The only way we made it through those months was taking it one day at a time and sometimes one hour at a time. My husband and I had talked about inviting just 4 people over on the day of her homecoming, but little did we know what my family had been working on for such a huge surprise. As a mom, my heart was bursting with overwhelming feelings of love and excitement and every emotion possible. Seeing all 3 children and our family of 5 all together at our house for the very first time is something I had waited for for way longer than I ever expected, and nothing could describe how amazing that moment felt! Marriage
Leslie Duffield
Leslie Duffield
I love this quote from Paul David Tripp:
He never wonders how he is going to deal with the unexpected thing…
Daniel 2:22 “He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him…”
God is with you in your moments of darkness because he will never leave you. But your darkness isn’t dark to him. Your mysteries aren’t mysterious to him. Your surprises don’t surprise him. He understands all the things that confuse you the most. Not only are your mysteries not mysterious to him, but he is in complete charge of all that is mysterious to you and me… He holds both you and your mysteries in his gracious hands, and because he does, you can find rest even when the darkness of mystery has entered your door.”
Although the darkness of mystery has entered our door in the form of CCHS, which Ellie had a 1 in 6 million chance of receiving this genetic mutation, I rest in the fact this is no surprise or mystery to my God. His ways are not our ways, and He has used this immensely already to draw my family closer. We have felt the love and support of family and friends in ways that we never knew possible. These people are there for us at the drop of a hat, answering their phones in the middle of the night if need be, crying with us one minute and laughing with us the next. We have felt the love, faithfulness, and nearness of Christ through this time more than any other time in our lives.”
Alice Jones
Alice Jones
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Emily Boedeker of Central, Arkansas. Be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories.
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