Over the past few weeks, I have been allowed to see a faith in God like I have never witnessed. A faith that I'm not sure I could produce in the same situation.
A couple of months ago, as I scrolled through my Facebook feed, I began seeing pictures and posts about a baby named Haven Cait. The photos of a baby that was just a few months old with an open chest from heart surgery and tubes from medical devices everywhere were hard to look at. To be completely honest, they were so hard to look at, I just scrolled right past them the first couple of times I saw them.
But, day after day, updates and photos of little Haven kept popping up in my Facebook feed. It was like God telling me, "This is a journey you NEED to see." So I decided to Like the page and began reading previous posts about Haven's journey so far. I learned that Haven was born to a young couple (Shanara and Dustin) just a few miles from where I live and she has a big brother (Hunter) who is just a few years older than her. I learned that even before Haven was born that doctors had diagnosed her with some conditions that I can't pronounce, much less understand. She had two open heart surgeries along with other procedures all before she was 4 months old.
My wife and I watched the journey unfold together. We celebrated on days with positive updates and grieved on days when things weren't going well. We watched a young family show a faith that celebrated God's power when things looked good and trusted God's plan when things looked bad. The roller coaster of emotions that this family went through must have been completely draining both physically and emotionally.
Even with my limited imagination, there were times I would think of what Haven and her family must be going through and tears would just stream down my face. I can not begin to imagine how my faith would stand if one of my two kids was going through something like this.
Haven went to be with God on Saturday, June 14, 2014. Even in her passing, through all the grief, her parents showed extreme faith by posting, "Haven just went home to be with The Lord. She is free."
In honor of Haven, I am going to set a reminder in my phone on the 14th of each month to remind me to pray for my two children. The only thing I will allow myself to ask God for myself on this day is the wisdom and ability to love and lead my children correctly. I encourage you to do the same.
I know God allowed me (along with over 30,000 others around the country) to be a spectator of Haven's journey to show what true faith (in the good and bad) in Him is.
Shanara, Dustin and Hunter, if you ever read this, know that Haven's short journey here on Earth made more of an impact on me and many others than a lifetime of sermons preached from a pulpit. God used Haven and your family more in just a few months than most of us allow ourselves to be used in 100 years. Thank you for sharing Haven and your family's unrelenting faith in God with all of us who had the honor.
First of all...if you have no idea who Morty is, go back and read The 72,850 Lb Elephant In Our House. For those of you who do know Morty and are wondering just how his diet is going let me give you a quick update.
Morty had some slip ups and a little trouble sticking to his diet this month but since May was an extra paycheck month, he still ended up slimming down quite nicely.
Morty's Starting Weight (April 2014): 72,850 Lbs
Morty's Previous Weight (May 2014): 68,972 Lbs
Morty's Current Weight (June 2014): 64,827 Lbs
Morty's 1 Month Weight Loss: 4,145 Lbs
Morty's Overall Weight Loss (Since April 2014): 8,023 Lbs
Morty needs to work a little on his discipline and sticking to his diet. Let's all give him some words of encouragement to keep going! Leave a comment below.
