Dearest Friends and Family

I have been thinking about posting this letter for awhile now. I wrote this letter early the morning after Emily died. I have been told many times over the last few weeks how much this letter has touched people. I truly believe that the Lord gave me the words to write the letter. If it was not the Lord, I doubt that I would have been able to write the whole letter. With tears streaming down my face I was able to share with everyone who had been praying for the last week what had happened to Emily and how much her short life has affected people.

I still cannot read this letter without crying, so be warned that you may need a tissue.


Dearest Friends and Family,

It is with a breaking heart that I write these words to you. Our beautiful Emily Faith died tonight. We are so blessed to have gotten to spend the time we did with her. She is such a miracle, even during her short life. We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, pray and support from each and every one of you. So many of you did not even know us, but got on your knees to pray for our precious family.  Emily passed away around 9:30pm on January 26th, we were with her at the time and were able to hold her and say goodbye. The doctors tried everything to give her a chance, but the truth is that she was just too early to survive.

We don’t understand why this had to happen, but what I do know for absolute certainty is that her short life had already and will continue to have kingdom impact. Emily Faith is with her creator, she is in Heaven and there is no more pain for her. We rejoice in the fact that one day we will get to see out little girl again, and she will always be in our hearts.

For those of you who only know bits and pieces I would like to share part of Emily’s story with you. Emily was 23 weeks and 2 days when she was born on January 26, 2011 at 12:10pm. The fact that Emily made it through the delivery process was the first miracle. She was born fully enclosed in the amniotic sac so this cushioned the delivery process. The Lord was gracious to me in that the delivery was short and with very little pain. Once Emily was born the doctors got her stable and brought her to see us before taking her to the NICU. Shortly before 3pm we were told that we needed to come be with her because she was not going to make it. I was trying to get out of bed to go see her when Ron came back and told me she had passed. We decided that we still needed to see her, so I got in the wheelchair to go. Then the doctor came walking in and was smiling. He told us that they had tried to resuscitate her but it had not worked and they had turned all the machine off when Emily began to breathe on her own. They got her stable at that point and we got to go and spend some time with her, it was very special. After all our friends and family had left for the night Ron and I went to spend some more time with our baby girl, it was during this time that they had to resuscitate her several times and we realized that she was working harder and harder with less and less results. We made the decision that we wanted her to be in our arms so the doctors put her on my chest and I got to hold out baby girl in the last moments of her life. I have to say it was the most special thing that could have happened. The three of us getting to spend those precious moments together and say goodbye. I know in my heart that we made the right decision to let her go peacefully, but it does not hurt any less.
We have come to find out that we have prayer warriors around the world that were interceding on our behalf during these last few difficult days. I cannot tell you how much you have all meant to us. So many of you we will never know, until we get to heaven. Please feel free to share this with anyone that you know was praying for us in the last few days. 

I would like to share one final thing with everyone. Many years ago a song was written by Twila Paris that I think fits what we have just gone through and I want to share the words with you. It is called “A Visitor From Heaven”

A visitor from Heaven
If only for a while
A gift of love to be returned
We think of you and smile

A visitor from Heaven
Accompanied by grace
Reminding of a better love
And of a better place

With aching hearts and empty arms
We send you with a name
It hurts so much to let you go
But we're so glad you came
We're so glad you came

A visitor from Heaven
If only for a day
We thank Him for the time He gave
And now it's time to say
We trust you to the Father's love
And to His tender care
Held in the everlasting arms
And we're so glad you're there
We're so glad you're there

With breaking hearts and open hands
We send you with a name
It hurts so much to let you go
But we're so glad you came
We're so glad you came

Thank you once again for all your prayers,