Jonathan'S Miracle

E. White Laurie

Description

For every parent who has loved with every fiber of their being lost, and never imagined they could survive. For anyone yearning to know How could God possibly bring good out of this?Laurie E White tells the story of her son in Jonathans Miracle. Jonathan arrived bringing hope and joy to a family in turmoil. Over the next ten years he wove his way into the hearts of each member of that family and all who knew him. Then, one morning Laurie and her husband received a frantic phone call at work: Jonathan was choking. For the next seventeen days he lay unconscious in the hospital, while family, friends and strangers prayed for a miracle. Jonathans Miracle invites you to travel the journey with her. Along the way she shares her personal journal writings, and original poems, borne from a mothers heart, as she copes with tragedy, trust, acceptance, and beginning to live again.What is it like to lose a child?It is like finding out the sun isn't going to rise tomorrow;That the whole earth has been turned off its axis.It is like waking up to find every pine tree a shade of purple Every daisy, blackYou will hope, you will cry, you will see Gods faithfulness.And you will experience Jonathans Miracle.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Inspiring Voices
• Date de parution: 25 février 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781462408771
• Langue: English

Extrait

Jonathan’s Miracle
A Mother’s Love, A Mother’s Loss… and God’s Faithfulness
Laurie E. White


Copyright © 2014 Laurie E. White.
Cover photo/portrait credit: Tim Shaffer
Cover Photo/rainbow background: Laurie E White
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
 
Inspiring Voices books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:
 
Inspiring Voices
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www.inspiringvoices.com
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0876-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0877-1 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014900596
 
Inspiring Voices rev. date: 02/21/2014

 
This book is dedicat ed to:
My Heavenly Father , who broke into my prison with arms of love. Who has shown me the power of his ability to see me through anything, and who hasn’t stopped revealing His love to me since.
My husband, David , your smile never ceases to warm me; your faithfulness to our family has always been sure. You are amazing. Your strength and compassion throughout this ordeal were une nding.
I lov e you.
Our children, Daniel, Christopher, Peter, Zachary, Cheryl, Ashley, Melanie, Michael, and Jonathan: who gave meaning to my life. Who have acted as mirrors, taught me about myself, and at times, jolted me into change. Whom I have grown to love as persons, not objects. Just as there is a place in my heart that fits only Jonathan, there is a place that only fits each of you.
You are my tre asure.
And especially Jonathan , who brought out the best in us. Who painted beautiful colors in each of our lives that will never fade;
You will always be a part of us.
We will love you, a lways.

 
 
 
This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not con sumed,
because his compassions fai l not.
They are new every mo rning:
Great is thy faithfu lness.
Lamentations 3 :21–23

Contents
List of Photo graphs
P reface
Acknowled gments
Introd uction
Part I
P art II
Pa rt III
P art IV
Ep ilogue
About the Author
Res ources

Photographs
Jonathan, Age 9 (Tim Shaffer Photogr apher)
Part One:
Jonathan, Age 1
Part Two:
Coll age 1:
Family, 1993 (Portrait by Life touch)
Baby Jo nathan
Jonathan and M ichael
Coll age 2:
Jonathan, Age 3 (Portrait by Life touch)
Jonathan, Age 15 months, pushing the hay wagon ( thought he was pushing the w agon!)
Jonathan, Age 1, and Peter
Jonathan, Age 9, Little League
Coll age 3:
Feather from Jonathan and Zachary’s Turkey (story in Par t One)
Jonathan’s stuffed animals and beloved baseball cap signed by “The Anch ormen”
Jonathan holding teddy bear, Age 5
Jonathan, Age 10
Part Three
Baptism and Birth Card, as displayed at his Memorial Se rvices
Family, fall 2001 portrait at Aunt Eleanor’s wedding (Notice Jonathan is holding a bal loon!)
Part Four
Jonathan’s English Paper
Epilogue
Co llage:
Baby Jonathan and Great Grandpa, Fred White
Jonathan’s School Portrait, 2001 (Tim Shaffer Photogr apher)

Preface
In July 1991, our youngest child, Jonathan, was born. Ten years later, we spent seventeen days in a hospital, hoping and praying… believing for a miracle for our beloved Jon athan.
I am Jonathan’s mom. This is my story.
It is important to understand that I am not a Bible scholar. It is my habit to simply open the Bible anywhere and read until something hits me. Then I write it down in my journal and ponder it. Sometimes I comment on the verse, and sometimes I write whatever is on my mind. Day after day, I find comfort, direction, and sometimes admonishment. Often there is a personal assurance of His love; every day there is something pertinent to my life. Over the years, God has used this simple routine as one of the ways He proves his faithfu lness.
The compilation of this book spans approximately one year. Oddly enough, once the manuscript seemed complete, God led me to a scripture that seemed to indicate that I was to put it aside, that it was not “for now.” I was sure I had misunderstood that message! But the following years bore that out. Ten years later, there came a time when I felt the nudge, opened it up, and knew it was time to see it through to compl etion.
Everything I wrote in my journal while in the hospital with Jonathan is contained in this story. These journal entries were written in the pain and shock of the moment, and I did not edit them any more than was absolutely nece ssary.
All scriptures quoted in my journal entries were found by just opening the Bible and letting God speak to my heart.

Acknowledgments
I am so grateful to the many people who have encouraged and assisted me in the writing of this book, among them:
My sister Jennifer, who taught me valuable lessons about writing. My niece Rebecca, who lent her artistic, editing and technical computer expertise, and my nephew Jonathan, who was always ready with hugs!
My sister Shelley, for her critique, advice, and su pport.
My cousin Cheryl, (my daughter’s namesake) for knowing what I wanted to say and not being satisfied until I had sa id it…
My sister in law Julie, for a fresh eye and final approval, and my niece Brianne for her great ideas.
My brother-in-law, Bryan, who patiently helped me get acquainted with the com puter.
My friend Jackie, for her insight, and for always being there… even at two o’clock in the mo rning!
My friend Terry, who saw Jonathan into the world, prayed for me at his Memorial service, and whose spiritual walk has always inspir ed me.
Anita, for being faithful to listen to the Holy Spirit’s le ading.
And to my husband David, who, in the course of our vocation as truck drivers, has encouraged me, listened, and cheerfully turned the radio off and endured miles and miles of silent driving while I worked on the final copy.
And most of all, my chi ldren:
To my daughter Ashley, who in the midst of college courses and young family took the time to pour her heart out and introduce you to Jon athan.
To my daughter Cheryl, for her poem, artwork, and creative eye. Each part of the book is denoted by a graphic derived from a drawing Cheryl made when I first wrote the book: Part I; the heart of course stands for love. Here we meet Jonathan and the family. Part II; the cross represents the trial and sorrow of Jonathan’s accident and the days in the hospital. Part III; the rainbow represents learning to live without Jonathan. The colors of a rainbow representing the range of emotions; sorrow and laughter, good days and bad days, ups and downs. Then, the original drawing illustrates Part IV beautifully; representing moving past the pain and sorrow into life again, and also as a visual of our trials bringing us to know God’s love more fully…
To all my children, for allowing me to devote so much time to the original writing… and for helping me in this final phase by sharing their thoughts and hearts to help me portray “our” Jona than.
Once again, Jonathan has been a ‘Golden Cord’ drawing us toge ther.
This is my story … but in many ways, it is “our” book, because it was our sorrow and he was… and is, our Jon athan.



Introduction
My Brother Jonathan
Senseless secrets, pointless arguments, tattles told, imaginary monsters fought; these are a few of the countless memories shared between siblings. Growing up in a home with many children, I never lacked a playmate. From playing in mud puddles with Tonka trucks and Barbies to playing in our grandfather’s grain bin, the days were filled with many new memories. True, there were days when we all seemed incapable of being in agreement, but the days of secrets and good times outnumbered them b y far.
Jonathan was always imaginative. Each day there would be a new adventure: we would whittle sticks to spear-like points to fight the cowboy while playing cowboys and Indians. There was Rusty, the pretend pet dog that lived with us in our tree fort, fashioned out of an old object found in the shed. Every summer we were left a corner in the garden, and each summer we dug a deeper hole, convinced that one day we would reach China!
In time, many of my memories have faded, and now I am lucky to just remember little blips. However, there is one that sticks in my mind clearly: that day the summer before he passed, when I had taken his popgun and the poppers for it and used them all. Of course he found me and ran to tell Mom. I had followed him in and sat there, waiting for her to get off the phone, knowing I was going to be in serious trouble. But before she was done talking, Jonathan came over and asked me to go play with him. He never once said anything about me taking his stuff and acted like it had never happened. When I think back on all of the many times we shared in our ten years together, none other expresses Jonathan’s heart to me so well. He was a mama’s boy, but he was also a forgiving, loving brother, who wanted to spend time with me more than make sure I got