Happy 2nd Birthday

To our Virginia,

Daddy and I can not believe that it has been 2 years since we have held you in our arms. The day that you were born was such a mixed bag of emotions as we grieved over your death but also grieved the fact that the disease that took your life also did a number on your physical appearance. We were saddened that we did not have the pictures that we so desperately wanted, the footprints, the lock of hair, etc. We are thankful that we do have some pictures of you and that a dear friend of ours that also lost their little girl at the same age as Virginia shared a set of her footprints for us to have.

We rejoiced in the fact that I was able to deliver you naturally--what a special gift that was for me. They did not think I had to dilate very far because you were so little but you stayed in the water bag and I dilated to 10! We were so thankful too that we were able to meet such a wonderful Christian MFM dr. in Dr. N. who spent so much time with us on the phone before your delivery and at the hospital. He was such a blessing to us. In fact when Grandpa & Grandma K. came to visit the next day he came in and prayed with us. We are so thankful too that we had the chaplain in the room with us praying during the delivery (We were about 2 hours from our family so we were not sure if my brother would be able to come out and baptize Virginia so we called the chaplain just to meet her ahead of time just in case. All of a sudden while she was talking to us the labor progressed quickly. She quietly stood in the corner and prayed for the delivery--what a gift)! We were so thankful too for the family members that drove out late that night to be with us and to hold you. It breaks my heart to look back on those pictures and see the sadness in their eyes but ... It was such an honor to have Uncle Jeff baptize you and share in the joy that you are now in heaven. (Jeff preached at the memorial service a wonderful sermon that can be found here)

We were also so blessed in the days after your death to be surrounded by so many family and friends to encourage us and to be the body of Christ to us and to our family.

You were named Virginia after your Great Grandma Ida Virginia and she even at 84 years old is such a wonderful Christian woman. We wanted to honor her by naming you Virginia because we knew that whether you lived or you died that God would be glorified. Your life (and your 2 siblings) even though they were so short has slowly started an amazing ministry. In the last couple of weeks we have been able to deliver packages to other families who also lost their babies. We are so thankful that your life can be a source of ministry to other hurting families.

We have been talking quite a bit about your birthday with your big brother Josiah and he wants to make a card for you which we will be doing. We will also be celebrating by having a birthday cake. Josiah said that you would be having cake in heaven but you won't be blowing out the candles because you're a girl :) He also started singing today, "I love Daddy, I love Mommy, I love my little sister". Virginia, we all love you and miss you very much!

Love,
Daddy, Mommy & Josiah