Thursday, March 30, 2006

A moment of Silence.........

Yesterday I got sad news, news I knew was coming soon yet was unprepared to deal with. My friend's niece Ashleigh took her last breaths here on earth. Ashleigh was 4 years old and had been battling neuroblastoma (cancer) for more than 1/2 her young life.
Honestly I had never gotten the chance to meet Ashleigh face to face. Yet her smile reaches out from her pictures grabs your heart and never lets go. Her story has touched thousands upon thousands. Her life will be with so many people forever.
I am thankful as Ashleigh is no longer in agony and her parents no longer have to watch her suffer. Amy & Jeff have been through and seen more in the past 2 years than any parent should have to. I am finding peace in knowing that Ashleigh's last breath was taken in the arms of her loving parents just as she took her first.
It is a comfort to my heart picturing Ashleigh sitting on God's knee with her Angel wings, pain free. No needles, no tubes, no braces nothing but the incredible body God has blessed her with. She is happy and warm at home with her father. I know she is reaching down comforting her family praying for them to go on and find hope knowing they will see her again.
What makes me sad and afraid is that I do not think Amy & Jeff have accepted Christ into their hearts. Who are they finding comfort in? Who is being their rock during this painful time? Do they believe Ashleigh is in heaven sitting with our Father? I am praying for their hearts and for comfort for them.

Please join me in a moment of silence for Ashleigh...............





Let us Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,
Please pour out the light of your presence on all those who love Ashleigh. Let them see You in a real and tangible way. Father, use her death to open their hearts to You that they may know You are the Comforter and that You have healed their daughter completely and fully.
Father, reveal Your plan for their future. Give them comfort and hope in the midst of their sorrow. Please send someone into their lives that can show Your love and comfort to them. Let their memories of Ashleigh fill their hearts with joy so that they may laugh aloud at the thought of her. Use her precious life and sweet memory for Your honor and glory that Amy and Jeff and others in Ashleigh's family may come to know You.
Father, Your word says that all of our days were ordained before one of them came to be. We also know that You use all of the circumstances of our lives to work Your greatest good in us. Father, I claim these promises for Ashleigh's family, that in the midst of these circumstances, they will seek You with all of their hearts, that You will set their feet on the rock, and that You will be their joy, their peace, and their hope when they have none.
In Jesus Name,
Amen


(Thank you to my friend Renee for hearing Christ and writing this for me)

1 comment:

Christy said...

My best friends daughter died from neuroblastoma. My daughter died from another form of Childhood cancer, Acute Myeloid Leukemia. I truly HATE cancer and what it does to our precious children. More people have to understand that no other disease kills more children than cancer. I'm off to visit Ashleigh's site.

God bless
Christy (Emily's friend)