"For the Love of Halle..."

Easter!! My favorite holiday, my favorite season, my favorite Sunday!! We love to get together at Grammie and Papa's for easter egg hunts, egg dying, and of course, a great big feast! But as fun as this week has been, it has also brought sadness and sorrow with it. You see, this is the week that a dear friend of mine lost her sweet baby girl at just nine months old. Little Halle. I never had the pleasure of meeting her, as I did not get to know her amazing family until just last year through our homeschooling community and church, but she has touched me nonetheless. I have seen the pictures and heard the stories of her sweet chubby cheeks, beautiful blond curls, and sparkling blue eyes. A beautiful baby girl.

Life was forever changed for her family two years ago tomorrow...little Halle somehow managed to get into the backyard and crawl into the family swimming pool. Tragic, yes. There will forever be pain in her parents' heart over the loss of their littlest daughter. Yet, as tragic as their story is, this family does not live as victims. They are victors. They have survived the unimaginable for one reason, and one reason alone...Jesus Christ. To know Jamie, you would never suspect the pain that she has endured these last two years. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of it...teary eyes for no known reason, a wandering gaze into the days of what might have been...but no anger. No resentment or bitterness for what was so unjustly taken from them....because it was never truly theirs to begin with. No, this family moves forward with a peace that passes all understanding. She told me in an email recently, "I don't even know how to explain it, only that God is an amazing comforter, and is more alive to me now than He ever was before. Of course, I knew he was around and everything, but honestly... two years ago sitting at the hospital that week, I could almost physically feel him hugging me...". Her words leave me speechless. Where would I be right now had that been one of my children? Would I have the same devotion to my Lord and Savior if he had taken one of mine...? I honestly hope that I could say yes...but I really don't know. However, Jamie does. Her faith is many times stronger than it ever would have been had Halle not brought her to her knees...

This kind of loss is unimaginable to most of us. Yet, through it all, God has used it for His glory, and John and Jamie are actually grateful for that. It is their hearts' desire that Halle's life was taken so that others may come to know Truth. They are surely the most selfless people I know. "If Halle was placed on this earth for nine months for the soul purpose of bringing others to Him, then even through all the pain and grief of it, I'm a proud Momma.". Which can't help but make me think that there is a reason that Halle's life came to an end during this season, at this Holiday. Death, so that others may live... But we know that it is only temporary...in the blink of an eye her parents and two big sisters will be joining her for eternity, reuniting together in the arms of our Savior. The one who is waiting for all of us with open arms, just like he was on the cross...

http://www.fortheloveofhalle.com/

"The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth." Psalm 145:17-18