Music To My Ears
1 week ago
23 April 2008
(These first seven blog posts were originally letters, written and emailed to our friends and family. I am including them here because they are a big part of telling our story.)
We thank you for your continued prayer and loving support for our family as we mourn the loss and celebrate the perfect healing of our sweet baby girl.
Some of you have asked where you may direct gifts in Evie Grace's memory, and it has occurred to us that we have not shared that information beyond our church family. In lieu of flowers (although so many of you have already sent us such lovely arrangements), please send any gifts to the Evie Grace Memorial Fund at Parish Presbyterian Church. Our plan is to place a fountain in her memory at the new church here in Franklin.
Pictured above is a rendering of our vision for this fountain. The almond tree represents "hope" and the rosemary around the edge is for "remembrance". The fountain will be raised in Evie's memory, but will exist in memory of all of the children in our covenant community whom we have loved and lost by miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death. On the edge of the bench near the water will be an area for the names of those babies with Evie's.
We believe what God's word says in Psalm 127, "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth".
We also believe that it is important to acknowledge life - particularly in this world of varying opinions about when life begins or becomes valuable. We believe that Evie's life began at conception and that her life was of great value not only to those who loved her, but to the Kingdom as well. The Lord has given us an amazing heritage in the life of our little arrow, Evie Grace. We would love for this fountain to be a testimony - a celebration and acknowledgement of life and the hope we have in Christ's resurrection.
You can mail donations to:
Parish Presbyterian Church
P.O. Box 1593
Franklin, TN 37065
Please be sure to write "Evie Grace" on the memo of your check.
Again, we want to thank you all for walking this journey with us. We are still very sad, and there are times when our arms feel painfully empty. We are so grateful to have lovely photos and keepsakes to remember our daughter by. Even more, we are grateful for the more lasting blessings and insights into God's perfect and all-sufficient character that have come out of her life with us. What initially seemed like a cross to bear has now taken the shape of a great blessing which we are honored to have been a part of. It blesses us immensely to hear how Evie's little life has changed so many others.
You all are a part of this story, and we want you to be able to see who you have been praying for. Here are a few photos of our sweet Evie-girl so that you can finally put a face with her name.
The photo of her hand in her Mom's is particularly special to us. In one of our ultrasounds in January the doctors were studying her left hand and had a difficult time understanding what her fingers were doing. It appeared that her pointer finger was stuck in a bit of a crooked, straightened position. We had forgotten about that conversation until she was born and we saw that sweet left hand again. We believe that Evie's effectual work in our midst was ultimately to point us to Christ. Holding her in our arms and
seeing her crippled little pointer finger again reminded us of what a wonderful purpose God has accomplished in her life. If God can use the life of a crippled, unborn baby for His glory, think of how he can use each of us!
May we all point to Christ with our lives the way that Evie did with hers.
All our love,
Ryan, Raechel & Oliver Myers
09 April 2008
(These first seven blog posts were originally letters, written and emailed to our friends and family. I am including them here because they are a big part of telling our story.)
Dear Friends,
Our Evie Grace was born into the arms of Jesus this afternoon at 1:28pm. She weighed 2.5 lbs and was 13.5" long.
Our Evie Grace was born into the arms of Jesus this afternoon at 1:28pm. She weighed 2.5 lbs and was 13.5" long.
God was gracious to give us a safe delivery without any complications. We were able to spend 2 hours with her, memorizing her beautiful face that we have waited to finally see. She really was lovely. We praised God that her sweet little body is now perfect. We prayed and sang and had a sweet goodbye with her. We are so grateful for God's promises that our goodbye today was not forever.
We plan to have a private burial on Saturday and invite you to join us for a Memorial service this Sunday at 5:00pm at Parish Presbyterian Church.
We, with our family, are very sad to say goodbye. Pray for us in these days and weeks ahead that God will fill the void she has left in us with His comfort and promises.
All our love,
Ryan, Raechel & Oliver Myers
08 April 2008
(These first seven blog posts were originally letters, written and emailed to our friends and family. I am including them here because they are a big part of telling our story.)Dear Friends,God is good. His timing is perfect and His ways are perfect. We are trusting in Him. After one last strong kick yesterday afternoon we had a long night of stillness from our little Evie. Ryan and I went to the midwife's office this morning for them to check on her and as the monitor was placed on my tummy, a still silence was all we heard. Our Evie has been freed from this world. We are now in labor and delivery at Vanderbilt where labor is being induced and we expect that we will meet Evie's earthly body sometime tomorrow morning. It will be a long night for us and those that are here with us. It has been a strange thing to mourn so deeply and grieve so painfully the impending loss of our sweet daughter. It isinteresting, though, that we have not found ourselves grieving for her, only for ourselves and those who will also feel this loss. Today we do not need to mourn for Evie or anything that she will not have or experience. To die is gain. Nothing Ryan or I could offer her would ever compare to eternity with Jesus in heaven. We mourn for ourselves, we celebrate for our Evie. Pray for us now as we look ahead to a long, painful night both physically and emotionally. God is already blanketing us with a peace that passes understanding, and with the comforting relief of knowing that Evie's work here on earth iscomplete. As we watched her still figure on the ultrasound machine this morning we were able to echo Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15, "O, death, where is your victory? O, death, where is your sting?" We do grieve, but not as those who have no hope. While we were not able to defeat death for our Evie Grace, there is One who already has. Thanks be to God. All our love,Ryan, Raechel & Oliver
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