This morning we celebrated the short, but beloved, life of our son, Joshua.
We gathered in the morning. As we joined together around the tree, Joe opened in prayer. Our pastor spoke about the (almost) shortest verse in the Bible, "Jesus wept." John 11:35. He shared about how Mary fell at Jesus' feet, grieving the loss of her brother, Lazarus. And he wept. Not because he didn't have hope for an eternal redemption, but because we will always feel the sting of loss in this life.
We then buried Joshua, the kids each laying flowers in his grave. As we buried him, we sang "This Little Light of Mine". Claire then passed out stones to each of us. We took turns piling them at the base of the tree, assembling an Ebenezer (a biblical symbol used to convey God's faithfulness in times of trouble).
In closing, we sang "Oh How I Love Jesus" - our special family rendition. And then our pastor led us in prayer.
Following the service, we went out to breakfast. Then after dropping Claire and Henry off at school, Joe and I took George back to the house. As George played outside, Joe and I sat in silence around the gravesite. Not planned, but a beautiful pause. It was a lovely way to celebrate his life and mourn our loss.
