The day we found about our boy's potentially fatal condition, our pastor and his wife were by our side. They came to Riverside Hospital to pray with us, and they were at my parents house later that evening to cry, pray, and grieve with us. I can't tell you how much that meant to us. We didn't know what we needed at that time. It was just enough to have them there and sit with us as we cried. We are beyond thankful for Lee and Whitney Davis.
The next day, Lee sent out an email to the entire church family informing them about our devastating news. The email was also sent to us, and it was surreal reading it.
"Is this really about us? Is this horrible news real life and are we really going to loose our baby?"
When we arrived at church the next morning, we were immediately greeted with hugs, peoples tears, people sharing truth with us from God's Word. We felt loved right away and knew we had an amazing support system around us.
As Lee started the service, we told everyone that his normal sermon in Genesis was going to be put on hold. He felt that with all that happened with us over the weekend, he couldn't simply pick up where he left off. His "sermon" that morning was from Romans 8. He directed the entire sermon to Justin and I. He used our names. He looked directly at us as he spoke and shared God's promises with us. He also spoke to the church body as a whole; how to respond when things like this happen in the body. It was gut wrenching, yet exactly what we needed. To be honest, I was not looking forward to hearing a sermon from Genesis. Sorry Lee! I needed to know that God loved us, that He was holding us up, that He would never let us fall. That's what we heard.
At the end of Lee's sermon, he had Justin and I, Justin's parents, my parents, and my sisters all come forward. The elders prayed over us. After that, he had the entire church family come forward to love on us. So, one by one, everyone in attendance that morning made a long line and came forward. Each person hugged us. Grown men that I've never seen shed a tear had tears running down their face. Each person whispering sweet words in our ears....
"We love you. We are so sorry."
"If there is anything you need, call me."
"God has you. He has you."
"Cling to Jesus."
"We are praying for a miracle."
And on and on.
Each person not only greeted Justin and I, they greeted our entire family. I've seen my Dad cry one time in my 33 years of life...and it was a kidney stone. That morning was the second time.
A couple days later, our family was reflecting on that service. My sister Beth said...
"I will never forget that service. What love our church family displayed and how Lee changed his entire line up just so that he could minister to us....I'll never forget it. That was special."
Exactly. I'll never forget how loved I felt that day. I'll never forget the faces that looked back at me, tears in their eyes, saying how much they loved us and were there for us. I knew that we had a great support system at NorthPointe Baptist Church, but now I KNOW that we are NOT alone in this. The body of Christ came together in a very special, real, raw way to help us carry this load and to not let us suffer and grieve alone.
NorthPointe Baptist Church, we love you. We are so thankful for your love for the Savior which overflows in your love for Justin and I. Thank you for walking through the fire with us and reminding us to keep our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith.
This is so sweet. So thankful for Lee and Whitney and the whole church body. I know our church body at GBC would go to bat for us in an INSTANT bc it's what the church should be doing! We are all family as believers in Christ...it's what we DO. So glad you have this precious memory. We love you!
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