Praise the Lord,
Some of you have asked me I how can I be so strong at a time like this, when our loss is so fragile. It is easy when you know what we know. We are standing on God’s promises. It’s by God Grace and Mercy that I can stand strong…of myself I can do nothing. I promised you all that I had something that I wanted to share with you regarding Jonathan…here it is.
I was supposed to have written this yesterday after I came home from bible study, but I fell asleep. I had put off sharing this with you because I wasn't led to until now. A former boss who happened to have been a minister, told me that my writing will not come from me, but from the Holy Spirit, so let it guide you.
Well, it is exactly one month to the day that this amazing event occurred. September 17 would have been Jonathan’s golden birthday, he would have been 17. We knew we wanted to do something special for his birthday, so we decided to go down to the lakefront by the Adler Planetarium and send off balloons. Because there was a special event going on for the Chicago Police department at Soldier Field, there was no parking on the streets around the museum campus. The day looked a lot like yesterday, windy, cloudy and cold. My first thought was a gloomy day, now this? No sunshine, no warmth and no west to east breeze?? We drove around and eventually decided to take our chances, and we parked on the street near the planetarium. My mom and sister wanted to join us, but I thought it would be too difficult for my mother to maneuver around the planetarium. My daughter, Alexis, said Jonathan would want Granny and Auntie Nene to be present and she was right. My mom and sister met us there via taxi cab...I thank God they were there and you will see why.
We stopped off at the party store on south Archer or Ashland for the balloons. We got nine white balloons and eight red…white for the purity and heaven and red for the blood of Jesus. In addition, we got one Happy Birthday balloon. I thank God for tech savvy children and sharpie pens. We wrote our expressions of love on the balloons and videotaped each other sending them off into the sky. We were disappointed that the balloons did not blow over the lake as we had hoped, but instead blew west into the city. I secretly prayed that maybe one of the balloons would blow toward Michigan, and somehow (through God’s Grace) find its way to the family of the young man that received Jonathan’s heart. It didn’t happen…we were exactly where God wanted us to be…the balloons blew in the direction that God wanted them to go.
For our final Happy Birthday tribute, we climbed the stairs of the planetarium to send off the remaining balloons, which were about eight including the birthday balloon. Darrell, Alexis, Thomas, Shellene and I gathered for a prayer…then we released the balloons together shouting our expressions of love and we’ll miss you. My mom, who was in her wheelchair below us, didn’t release her final balloon until she was ready…Amen. We watched the balloons as they danced their way, letting the wind carry them up into places unknown until they were tiny specs in the sky. I stepped away from the group to see if I could see them through the telescope. As I was trying to adjust the focus on the viewer, my sister yelled, “Oh my God.” She had taken two pictures of the sky in the direction the balloons had blown. The Holy Spirit was at work. She was there for this purpose. Hallelujah! Do you see what we see? If you do, let me know.
GOD IS GOOD! THANK FOR YOUR LOVE AND KINDNESS! The Lord said, “those who mourn, shall be comforted…the pure in heart, will see God…weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. I will send you a comforter…there is a peace that passes all understanding.” We are at peace. There is so much joy in our hearts and we can smile because of it. We still grieve for Jonathan…we miss him terribly. But our tears turn to happiness because he is in the best place he could be…safe with the Lord. God called Jonathan home. It was the Lord's Will. This picture is confirmation to us and all who’ve seen it, the power of God.
We believe Jonathan was given to us to give us joy, as he has, and to give life to others. When Elder Conley said at Jonathan's eulogy that his name means "giver" in the bible, we thought how appropriate for God to have used JJ in this way. We trust Him, believe His promises and praise His Holy Name. We are comforted, the Holy Spirit gave us a gift...we will always know exactly where Jonathan is. We serve a faithful God. One who does what he said he will do. Amen!
Thank you all for your love, hugs and words of comfort.