I know that yet again it has been awhile since I’ve written an update on Davy girl and I promise that one is coming very soon, but today there was something burning in my heart that I couldn’t keep shut up in my bones.
One of the joys in the midst of the hardship during this season was that God wove our path and our souls together with other families embarking on similar heart-wrenching journeys. One of those families were John and Pam Ledbetter.
John and Pam are incredible, faith-filled people. Seriously, they are the type of people you meet and you wonder if what you’ve been calling “faith”, the “faith” you’ve been walking with, is even faith at all!
Pam gave birth to a precious little boy they named Luke Elias Ledbetter on June 3rd a year ago today. He was born with many complications and they didn’t know if he would make it through birth. However, like our Davy girl, God gave Luke a fighting spirit and he pulled through it.
Luke continued to display his fight and impressive strength through God’s grace for 8 months until around midnight on January 20th when God called Luke home to be with Jesus in paradise where he would no longer deal with his earthly frailties, but be given the strength and wholeness that his spirit possessed to his whole body.
For his birthday today, John wrote a letter and poem I wanted to share here:
Luke
You know better now than your mother and me–
Pain will not last forever.
Though we will hurt until that day,
God will mend us once together.
You were never ours to keep, we know,
I never dreamed you’d leave like that.
Thoughts of how you loved us then,
Make me desperate for you back
However hard it was to help you breathe–
through vents and trachs, your oxygen supplied.
You smiled even as you tried,
and tried, and tried, and tried.
We trust the mercy of the Father,
that Christ is now your measure;
That though you inherited my low nature,
Yet he made himself your treasure.
We will have no greater privilege in this life,
Than the care of you, Sweet Luke
Who, given nothing, shined a light
That shown with purpose, strength and truth.
So today, in honor of Luke Elias Ledbetter, Davy, Chels and myself will be living “LukeStrong” and I pray that you will as well. I also ask that you would pray that God would be close to John and Pam today as they remember and celebrate Luke’s precious life.
Luke, thank you for shining a light in your short time and pointing people to the great hope we have in Christ. I can’t wait until one day in heaven when I get to stand with you, your mom and dad, and all the saints of God with bodies of perfection around the throne and sing, “worthy is the lamb who was slain”.
Until then, we’ll continue to follow Christ passionately and live “LukeStrong”.
#lukestrong
So beautiful. I’m sorry for their loss. Thanks for sharing and for the challenge/reminder to live in faith.