I loved this analogy when my friend Laura read it to me: “When a shepherd seeks to lead his sheep to better grass up the winding, thorny mountain paths, he often finds that the sheep will not follow him.  They fear the unknown ridges and the sharp rocks.  The shepherd will then reach into the

All the days of life for Judson were written in God’s book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16) Jud’s life and death were ordained for him.  Therefore, the pain we now experience was part of the package of being Jud’s parents.  To accept the tremendous joys of being his mom and dad

When Judson was growing in my womb, our birth coach encouraged us to choose a song to sing and hum over and over, so that when our baby entered this world, he would have an immediately familiar and soothing song. I chose a song that was sung at our wedding.  At the time, I wasn’t

All the days of life for Judson were written in God’s book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16) Jud’s life and death were ordained for him.  Therefore, the pain we now experience was part of the package of being Jud’s parents.  To accept the tremendous joys of being his mom and dad

I have had 34 Thanksgivings in my life, but only two with Judson.  Yet, this Thanksgiving, without his presence, felt incomplete.  There is a gaping hole in all our hearts, reverberating in every thought.

Judson’s graveside burial service was the hardest event of this journey.  There was such a sense of finality as Jud’s casket was lowered into the depths of the earth.  My eyes were already weary from grief, but on this occasion they were swollen and saturated with tears as I wept and wept over the loss

Today is Thanksgiving. Though we are overcome with grief, we also have numerous reasons to be thankful.  As I pondered all the blessings in my life, something struck me… It is actually through and out of this experience with Judson that I have tasted God’s love for me more deeply than ever before.  This is

Often times, long before Krabbe symptoms appeared, Jud and I would be playing or talking, and I would be so overcome with his sweetness, cuteness, or humor, that I wanted to savor him forever.  So, I would ask, “Can I keep you, Jud?  I want to keep you forever.  Can I keep you?”  I asked