"Gone Heavenly" - A Tribute to Scott and Joan Pearson

One week ago I watched two smiling people, two loving souls, two beaming hearts overflowing with joy come see their grandson for the first time...

Jen had just given birth an hour earlier - River gave a tremendous and beautiful cry as he was halfway into this world! It was a beautiful announcement of life! It was startling and nearly shocking hearing his voice for the first time. I didn't know how to respond really. It was so overwhelming, so primal, and so piercing... like an eagle emerging from it's nest. It was pure. It came from the gut. It gave me goosebumps hearing it! It was a gift to hear his voice finally... how we had longed to hear it.

With Sarah - her arrival was announced with silence, no crying...it was a dead calm of emptiness and quiet. Her voice was not present to us. It was gone. What you could hear was the sobbing of our voices as tears fell from our eyes to her dormant little frame laying vacant in our arms. Sarah just wasn't there. She was gone, "gone heavenly" you could say - and everything was silent. It is still beyond words to describe what it was like. I remember it clearly though. You saw it in everyone as you looked into their eyes. The dark areas in the room beyond the lights were present with it. The hospital in all it's plastics and metals was cold with it. The nurses acted with it. The doctors were distant with it. It was like everything had a shadow on it. Even with God present, death is still loss and still so awful to experience. Jesus encountered it with His friends Mary and Martha, as he was moved to tears at the death of their brother.

But that moment when Sarah was born, there was also two loving souls, two beaming hearts full of compassion attending to the their daughters first born little girl - and attending to us too. Scott and Joan Pearson were there with River just as they were there with Sarah. As they also kissed and held and loved on River for the first time, they did too Sarah. Joan was there through the whole birth with Sarah, holding one of Jen's legs as Sarah's little broken body came to us - incredible! She held Sarah after she was born and cried all over her, tenderly attending to Sarah's limp frame. She was there with us. And as we came home, leaving Sarah behind, Joan was there at the house - making a home for us, making us feel comfortable in anyway she could. Her heart ever so quick to cry with us, bringing us so much comfort. We were so glad both them were with us. They helped us in that important transition from going to the hospital with Sarah to coming home without her. How do you thank someone for that? We are still learning. All through the journey Joan has been there for us, calling daily - and we love her so for doing it. Blessings to you Mom!

I remember distinctively after Sarah was born - Scott holding up Sarah, holding her close to his chest, thanking God for her life and how it had touched him - how it had touched him to the deepest parts of his heart and soul. He wept with thankfulness! It was a stunning moment of immense beauty as a grandfather accepted the fate of his granddaughter with total surrender and thankfulness to God, worshiping the Lord, while lamenting her parting. I saw the face of God that day in Scott. I'll never forget it. His response was costly, it was from a deep place in him formed over many days of crying out to God... but it's beauty to God I felt within myself. I felt how much it pleased God. Scott got what the journey was all about and it formed beauty and life in him. The redemption of Sarah was alive in Scott whether she lived or died. The issue was settled for him, God was to be glorified and the beauty of Sarah's life was going to be celebrated. It was a picture of love overcoming death. It represented for all of us, how we felt about the whole journey with Sarah, "Your will be done Lord. May it be unto us whatever you wish. We know that you're good no matter what happens. Thank you Jesus. Thank you for Sarah!"

Scott and Joan have been there for us and this is our thank you to them in the Sarah Pages. Thank you for being there in all of it. You have given us a priceless gift and we are deeply indebted to you because of it. I know you would say we owe you nothing, but we say we do. You've set an example to follow, a standard to reach towards. I would say you've been a shelter for us in the midst of these storms and you've been the ones lifting the banners up in celebration as River's life unfolded into our arms. Your support and love and giving and thoughtfulness and kindness and words and care and hard work and serving and laughter and joy and tears and cooking and willingness and intentions and many other things have been a severe blessing of immeasureble value!!! We honor you today!!! We honor you! We honor you... I hope you hear this - bless you for all you have done for us - from Sarah Elizabeth to River James. We know what you've done and we are so grateful to you. We are so thankful for you! We are thankful...thank you. Thank you. Thank you. A thousand thank you's!!!!


So when River was born these two beaming, loving souls (Scott and Joan) came in to see his little self (River)... and what I saw made me cry. What I saw was their joy being made complete. That's what it spoke to me. Our joy was made full too! They had believed with us for this miracle and now he was here. To share it with them, these two, that had stood with us through it all and prayed their guts out for us... it was the sweetest gift. It was a shared victory, a shared joy! In a new way we had "gone heavenly." It was family overcoming, enduring through it all, taking hold of the promise! It was just so wonderful! It was tremendous! It was a beautiful song... and we were all singing it! When I went to go tell them to come in... I couldn't speak, all I could do was bury my head in Scott's shoulder... it was just so unreal and so deeply moving. He held me as I gave way to the promise, to the gift from the Father, the gift of River, of family, of Scott and Joan, the gift of love, of everything... it was all around us.

You are a part of this too. You who have been here in this with us, whether near or far away. I feel to say, River belongs to you too! He is our gift from the Father! Thank you again for standing with us, for your notes of encouragement. Be blessed. Maybe you will meet River some day soon... Maybe your "River" will come to you. Don't give up... He is faithful. He will come and will bring forth all that He has promised. If He promises, He will bring it to pass..

And like it is for us now, when your River comes, we might say of you, you've "gone heavenly."