"God will use this mess for good."

The amount of people who have told us that our journey with Elise has brought them closer to God is immeasurable. Toward the end of my pregnancy, a guest minister came to our church and spoke a message that I was certain God sent directly for us. The repeated theme throughout his sermon was "So they will know that I am God." It was about holding on during the storm because God has a purpose and a plan. Each time someone tells me about how Elise has touched their lives I can hear him saying it. "So they will know that I am God." I find incredible peace in knowing that Elise's life of 2 months and 2 days has touched the lives of more people than most of us can say of our 30+ years on this earth.

Here are a few examples of the lives touched by our precious girl:

A couple days after Elise passed away I received this message from a sweet woman I have never met:

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  Your video was absolutely beautiful. I know that you will not mind, I shared it at work. You see I am surrounded daily by co-workers who constantly state that we have freedoms of choice to do what we desire, when we desire. As we all watched your video in our break room, tears were shed, voices soft spoken asked me how I knew you. I explained to them that we are united spiritually, only....the common thread of loving what God blessed us with. The poignant fact remained that through your heart felt efforts my co workers who are both physicians and nurses understand now without a doubt why I cannot in good conscience help facilitate terminations. Your video brought understanding to some as to why we have people who choose not to terminate, but instead to love. Thank you so very much. I pray that God not only blesses you, but continues to cover you with peace and comfort in the days ahead.
  
  
  

Here is a message I received from a friend:

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  After watching the precious video of your angel, I felt moved to send you this message. Through your journey with Elise, you have helped me through my bitterness and struggles that I have fought for a few years. We have tried for years and we are unable to have a child of our own. I could hardly handle the heartache of never having a child to call my own; however, after hearing of your endless bravery, love, and kindheartedness, the bitterness left my heart and I was overcome with sadness as I read the updates you posted of sweet Elise. I want you to know that through your tragic journey, you have blessed others in your path and for that I thank you. Your demonstration of faith has refilled the faith that I had so carelessly lost. My thoughts and, most importantly, sincere prayers are with you and I ask that you are comforted with His peace and love during this tragedy.

Last week I received a call from Elise's hospice nurse. The support she provided us during our last few weeks with Elise was absolutely incredible. She told me about how she shared our blog with some important people in her company who were moved to tears by our story. She said that Elise may have been the catalyst to some very big and necessary changes for the hospice system.

Just the other day I found myself comforting a woman who recently lost her precious baby to hydrocephalus as well. Only about one month from our girl's passing and here I am offering advice to another grieving mother. As I was typing the words of encouragement, it was as if I could hear God saying, "And you wondered why you were chosen for this journey?" I keep going back to the repeated theme in You'll Get Through This by Max Lucado that states "You'll get through this. It won't be painless. It won't be quick. But God will use this mess for good."

It was made evident to us very early on in this journey that God has big plans for Elise's story. We are thankful for each person that has been touched through her life. For those of you who have found this blog seeking wisdom as you face a similar battle, I offer you reassurance that God can turn your sorrow into peace.  I am in amazement that God truly can use this tragedy for good.

"I will put my rainbow in the clouds to be a sign of my promise to the earth."
Genesis 9:13