Tragedy

I was on the way home from visiting a friend on June 29, 2011, around 9:15pm, when my mother called to let me know that my dear friend Susanna's son had drowned, and that EMT's were working to revive him.

The news spread like wildfire across Facebook, the internet, phone calls...so many, many people were praying that God would spare this child's life. That God would spare Jim & Susanna the pain of losing a child.

Those prayers weren't answered the way we wanted them to be. On the morning of June 30th, Christian Noah, age 5, went home to be with the Lord.

I wish that I could say that I knew Christian better, but he & his family moved to Georgia 3 years ago, so he was no longer the little toddler I had known.

It was my privilege to be able to travel to Georgia for Christian's funeral last week. Listening to his family & friends talk about the boy he had become--he was a really cool kid. Thoughtful, introspective, curious, loving, full of laughter, his dad's little shadow. His death has left an enormous hole in his family.

I'm comforted knowing that Jim & Susanna have such an amazing faith in our Heavenly Father--you could literally see them being held up by God's grace and the prayers of their brothers and sisters in the Lord. They have a long road to travel, one that, despite such different circumstances, I am all too familiar with. But they have the hope & knowledge that they will be reunited with their precious son one day, and then their family will be together for eternity.