Please know that we cherish every moment we had with Matthew. As difficult as this road has been - in spite of the fact that we miss him more intensely than we could possibly put into words, the fact that our arms ache to hold him, and that our hearts are breaking; we will be eternally grateful that God chose us to be Matthew’s family. That he choose me to carry him. Every single heartbeat was a precious gift from God. Every movement I felt was a gracious reminder of the fact that he was here, that his life mattered. He had meaning and purpose. He was not a mistake. He was carefully formed and knit together by a sovereign and loving God. He lived exactly as long as God planned for him to live.
The moments after his birth were filled with a joy that could only have come from God. We were so happy to meet him, hold him, and love him. We take great comfort in knowing that we will see him again some day. Our precious son, Matthew David – “Beloved Gift from God” will be eternally loved and never forgotten. Because of his life, our family will be forever changed.
Thank you for walking this road with us. Your kind words and many prayers helped sustain us.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
Job 1:21
Blessed Be Your Name
by Matt Redman
- - -
Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name
10 comments:
What a beautiful son! I have been praying for your family. I am so sorry for your loss. May God bless you all and help you through this difficult time.
Katie
I am praying for you and your family. You are such a great woman of God. I have been praying for you always. If you ever need a huge in school you can just come to me and I bet it is the same for others too.
Amy Smith
Kristie and Kent,
Just learned recently about Matthew in our Bible Study Group. Karen gave me your blog site. We grieve with you the loss of beautiful Matthew. Your strong faith is such a blessing to us and so many. I feel honored that you would allow us to go on this difficult journey with you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Cor. 1:3-4) We pray that the Great Comforter is bringing peace and healing to you now in your sorrow. We love you and all your family!!!
Dan and Theresa Appleby
You are in our prayers. God Bless You and give you peace.
Kristi,
What an amazing testimony to God's grace and peace you and Kent are. Matthew David has touched more people in his short life than most of us could ever hope to. Thank you for sharing him, your pains, and your joys with all of us. How amazing it would be if we were all willing to do the same.
Proud to be your brother,
Steve
As it says in Timothy 4:7-8 you can also say: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." I am so very proud to call you "my daughter".
With all my love,
Mom
Hey Kristie, you may or may not remember me. My name is Bill Nolte and I went to Bible study at your house with Donna and Wes Kephart about, oh, 10 years or so. Remember, I was the one that caused all the arguements. :) I just want to tell you first of all that you have lots more people praying for you and thinking of you than you know. Some of them don't know how to approach you, some of them feel uncomfortable at first, some of them really feel for you but are, again, dealing with old feelings from a similar event. Some people feel this form of medium to be very impersonal or don't want to share with everybody, especially if we don't have your email. As you may remember, I don't have that trait. I'll tell everybody anything. :) I feel more sorry for you than I can possibly say. I can say I have gone through this, but I won't demean your grief by saying I know what you are feeling. To this day I feel sad when thinking of Spencer, but I almost relish the idea of having another perfect soul waiting for me after this world. I will of course offer to do whatever I can to help you. If you need someone to chat at or to, I think Donna sent you my email. I guess my main purpose here is to let you know you are in my prayers and to ramble on and maybe make you smile.
Bill Nolte
Kent & Kristi,
We can feel your peace, knowing that Matthew is only gone for a while............that God has promised we will one day all dance in His glory together in Heaven. Your graciousness in sharing your lives has undoubtedly changed lives (like ours!) and caused praise, and pause, and peace. You're both incredible. Our love and hugs to each of you, and to your children. All of your children. Hugs travel quickest to Heaven. Much Love, Tom & Jeni
Hello. We don't know one another but a mutual friend directed me to your blogspot. I am so deeply sorry to hear of your loss & know that you will no doubt be feeling a whirlwind of emotions for a long time, if not forever. Your strength, courage and faith in God is so evident in your writings. That is good and will help you find peace. I lost a son during my pregnancy earlier this year. He was given a poor prognosis after our first ultrasound too. The hurt from my experience is still very raw & overwhelming, but your words are helpful in ways. Your faith in our God and how you expressed it has helped me in some ways and I thank you for that. Even though we have never met, I'm hoping that our boys have and are playing happily together in heaven and they are pain free. May God bless you and your family.
Wow, I had no idea what was going on with your family. Aaron and I saw you at church awhile back and just then noticed you were pregnant. After the service I saw you were visibly upset and didnt feel comfortable approaching you about it. I emailed Steve and he directed me to your blog. Aaron and I were so shocked and saddened by your situation. Our family has been going through some really rough times lately with our girls and even though Im not dealing with a risky pregnancy, its so hard going through stuggles with your children that you never expect or see coming. I watched the video on the Smith family and pretty much cried the whole time, but it was a comfort to me. Our rough patch seems to be finally smoothing out but, I can see a long rough road ahead. We too have felt God's comforting presence through this and it made since when Angie said, "there is no plan B for God. It is our plan B." I understand that we need to surrender to God's will and trust him. Now that I know what has happened, we will be praying for your families healing!
Shannon and Aaron Sisco
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