Heaven is For Real

I really have no words to describe what happened this week to our church community. So I copied and pasted a beautiful story as a summary, written by our friend, Shannon McMahon:

Hi Friends,
I know that many of you have probably already heard through other e-mail updates, but just in case, I want to let you know that Baby Jacob was born today, February 20, 2012 at 1:36p.  He weighed 4 lbs. 3.5 ounces, measured 17 inches long, and had a beautiful head of brown hair.  He stayed with his mommy and daddy for the next four hours, enjoying plenty of cuddling, snuggling, singing, praying and kisses from them as well as from his friends and family gathered around to welcome him.  He was then gathered into Jesus’ arms, climbing Jacob’s ladder surrounded by a host of angels welcoming him home.  I was blessed to be at the hospital for much of this love-filled process, and the only word that I can use to describe the entire experience is peace.  Jesus answered so many of our requests.  Kelly actively labored for about 3 hours and then pushed Jacob out with only four contractions.  This is what we asked for, no C-section and very short labor, as the contractions could have been stressful to Jacob with the low amount of amniotic fluid in the uterus.  All of their family members were able to be there in time for the birth (they arrived and 20 minutes later, he was delivered!) and got to be there to hold, kiss, and pray over their sweet boy.  We even got to hear his little voice cry out in objection to the nose-sucker.  Pastor Jamie and Pastor Aaron came and all the friends and family gathered around the bed to witness Kelly and Rob dedicate Jacob to the Lord.  Kelly shared that she was amazed how Jacob could have taught her so much about faith in the short time that he had been alive so far.  After he passed, all of his friends were able to come and say good-bye.  Throughout the process, Kelly and Rob maintained a supernatural level of calmness, peace and joy, caring for Jacob with gentleness and perseverance, reminding him to breathe, keeping his head warm, and even encouraging him to nurse.  

As Ella, Kristine and I got our turn to say good-bye, Kelly and Rob told us that they had told Jacob that it was his decision to either go and be with Jesus or to stay here on earth with them and do some more work for the kingdom.  Even as he lay peacefully “asleep” in her arms, his head having grown cold, she told him that the option was still on the table to come back and stay with them here on earth.  I told her that I believed that could happen and that I would be praying all night.  She reminded us that Lazarus was dead for three days when Jesus resurrected him.   


With this new leg of our journey, we must still continue to pray.  We know that God has the power to bring life back to Jacob, but we also know that if He chooses to keep Jacob home with him, He can comfort Rob and Kelly through the process of saying good-bye to him.  I am of the mind to keep calling on the power of Jesus to say, “Arise, little one.”  Please agree with Kelly and Rob in prayer as Jacob stays with them tonight in their hospital room (at least, that was the plan when I spoke with Patti Blue at 8:15p, who is still with them) that Jesus can still show His power over death in the body of Jacob.  We have moved past the 11th hour and are now in the 12th hour, but we know that with God, no hour is too late.  Please also pray that whatever the outcome, peace would continue to wash over this family.  Pray that as they rejoice always and present their requests to Him, with thanksgiving, that the peace of Christ, which makes no sense to our minds, would guard their hearts and their minds (Phil 4:4-9).  Pray against any attacks from the enemy.  Pray that truth prevails over the lies and that though Kelly, Rob and Jacob walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God is with them.

And just because it is such a sweet story and puts into words what I had yet to say out loud, I will share with you what Michael Shamus said when I went to pick my kids up from our amazing, wonderful baby-sitters.  He sat on my knee and asked me how the hospital was.  I said that it was a good time.  He asked if baby Jacob is all better now.  I answered, as my voice betrayed me and the tears welled up in my eyes for the hundredth time today, that Jacob had gone home to be with Jesus.  In true child-like fashion, he asked, “Already?”  I explained that Jacob got to be with his parents for a few hours, meet all of his friends and family and pray with them and sing with them and that then he decided it was time to go home and be with Jesus.  He paused for a moment before responding in a small voice, “I wish that hadn’t of happened.”  I couldn’t have said it better.  
thank you for continuing to stand with us in prayer,
Shannon 

We all knew very early that Jacob was sick. He was born with only one kidney, and the one kidney he did have was cystic. He had almost no amniotic fluid, and therefore had no lungs. Yet people still prayed for a miracle.

I arrived to the hospital after Jacob had passed. There were so many people who had been there much of the day and gotten to meet him, pray, worship, and just be with him and the Lowers. We said goodbye to Jacob in small groups. Afterwards, I was overwhelmed with so much sadness, empathy, and grief. I will never forget the image of Kelly holding her baby so dearly in her arms, with her loving husband thanking everyone for their love and prayers. It was weird because I hadn't met the Lowers until that night in the hospital. I had been praying for Jacob, but had never been able to go to the prayer meetings to meet them. But even so, the pain was overwhelming. Days later, I could still barely focus on anything. I couldn't stop crying or grieving for them. I remember wondering at the hospital why all the girls, even the mothers, were so calm. I emailed the girls the next day telling them that I felt so full of grief, and Ella, our church prayer pastor, explained to me that before I arrived at the hospital, they had all had a chance to cry and mourn, but they had experienced a lot of peace. I had missed that, so it made sense to me that I felt mostly loss and sadness.

I then felt like God helped me to realize two things. The first was that, if I was grieving and in pain for a family whom I barely knew, even though I had known of the peace that the Lowers experienced through all of the prayers and the many people who supported them from start to end, then how much more painful must this be for the families who do this alone? I had a tiny glimpse of the magnitude of pain that exists on this earth. Granted, there is much joy, but I realized that there must be many, many people who lose children and don't have an entire community to support them.

The second thing: I felt like Jesus was saying "coming to me is not a bad thing". I don't think I would ever say this to parents who had just lost a child. Death is a loss to those of us who remain on earth. We don't want to lose someone because we want to be with them, love them, hold them, and experience life on earth together. But to Jesus, maybe he doesn't see death the same, since it is simply time for someone to go to be with him in his perfect heaven. Baby Jacob is not sick in heaven, he is a little boy free of illness, happy, healthy, and joyously loved by his heavenly father. I think having that image of Jacob in heaven softened my pain. I don't know if these thoughts are entirely correct, but it's what went through my head and it's what helped me to at least accept that we will never completely understand the way God works. I know that God is good all the time, so there must be something good in this that we just don't understand.

If you haven't read the book Heaven is For Real, you should. It's about a 4-year old boy named Colton who was unconcious and went to heaven for only minutes. But he met Jesus and saw heaven in extraordinary detail. When you read the book, you realize that this is real. He met his sister whom he never knew existed because his mother had a miscarriage and had never told him. He met John the Baptist, and knew he was Jesus' cousin, he saw Jesus' scars from the cross which he called "markers", he saw the Angel Gabriel sitting on the left side of God (Jesus sits at the right), and the list goes on and on and on. How would a 4-year old know all of this if he hadn't seen it? And everything he saw is confirmed in the bible as well! I remember the vivid picture of heaven that was painted in that book, and I imagined Jacob there. And according to Colton, he says over and over "Dad, Jesus REALLY loves the children".

I have heard from people who are close with the Lowers, that they are doing well. But I think we will all be grieving for a long time, and I think that's a good thing. Being a Christian doesn't mean that you are immune to sorrow and need to put on a happy face. God feels the Lowers' pain and he grieves with them, just as any parent would do for their children. I think I will always see them as heroes for how they've handled everything they've gone through. I am so thankful to have people in my life who will pray for what the world calls impossible. And even though Jacob went to heaven instead of staying on this earth with his parents, God was not absent. As our pastor Aaron said today at church (in my own words) The love that surrounded the Lowers in that hospital room accompanied by their friends and family was immeasurable, something he'd never experienced. I believe it was God's love manifested in his people.