Sunday, May 3, 2009

Families can be together forever

Today I feel so full of a ton of different emotions. Sadness, regret, gratefulness, empathy, worry, relief. Yesterday our dear friends Anthony and Janet Pope lost their precious little boy after having him on this earth for 4 short days. Their loss and the process of grieving that they will now go through has caused me to shed some tears (more like bawl my eyes out) and re-evaluate the importance and pure gift of this life. As a mother, I cannot even being to imagine the utter despair you would feel at having your child taken from you. When I don't see Malachi for a few hours my heart aches for him. But for a whole life time????? It's made me think differently about the time I get to spend with him every day, especially the times that I don't feel like playing peek-a-boo, or going outside for hours, or when I'm exhausted from waking up 4 times in the night. I bet the Pope's would love to wake up 4 times in the night for their son. And here's me complaining about this little spirit that I have in my care. I don't ever want to be in the situation where I feel regrets about what I did and didn't do during my time with my son.

But I think that the most important thing I've felt these last 2 days is deep gratitude for the Plan of Salvation and the promises of the Temple. To lose a child would be hard, to lose a child forever would be devastating. I'm so thankful for the promise that no matter how short my time on earth may be with my husband or my son, I have the eternities to spend with them. So long as I'm doing my part.

So, my prayers are with the Pope's at this time, my heart mourns for them and with them, but my spirit is re-focused and more determined to live better this week then I did last week. So that when the time comes for me to leave this earth, I can go with the promise that my family is mine forever.

7 comments:

Premadasa Family said...

sarah that is so sad. I cant even imagine life without our little man now, i can not even begin to imagine what they are going through! What happened?

Abi said...

I don't even have the words for that. What a tragic thing to happen to such a lovely family. The Popes are such wonderful people and I can't even imagine how hard that must be. Sarah - you are so awesome. I love and admire you. I read what you said about the Popes and cried, but then read your testimony and that puts it all in perspective. I hope the Popes are comforted by their belief in Jesus Christ and knowledge of eternal families.

Miranda said...

Awwww no way not Pope and his wife! That's so sad - are they still in Hawaii? Either way prayers are with those two.

Unknown said...

Yesterday was such an eye opener and reminder that we should always be grateful and mindful of others. You gals are doing such a good job being examples.

Lana and Micah said...

Thanks for sharing Sarah. Our prayers are with your friends!

Line said...

Awww, Sarah, well said! Being away from Spencer for 6 days forced me to be more grateful for him because I got a taste of how hard it would be to live life without him. I will remember these words when Spencer decides to wake up in the middle of the night screaming for some unknown reason.

Sibbett_Ohana said...

That was very insipiring, and your right... we never want to live with regrets...I need to be more grateful for my children. Even during times when I feel like I need to grab my pillow and SCREAM!!! tHANKS FOR SHARING and our prayers go out to your friends,