Dear family and friends…

As we hit 21 months without our Judson, the two year anniversary of losing him feels like it is right around the corner.  Somewhere along this journey I made a personal commitment to very intentionally write, as openly as possible, about the depths of my grief through the first two years.  It is mind-blowing that much of that time has already passed, but also staggering how intensely we continue feel grief.

I could still burst in to tears at any moment throughout my days, yet, I do so far less often.  The layers of our grief continue to be peeled away, yet my mind and heart have slowly begun to accept many of the realities of our loss.  My boy’s absence continues to weigh heavily on my heart, finely woven into the majority of my thoughts, but I am growing accustomed to living this way.

We continue to perceive that part of God’s call for our lives now is to tell His story as portrayed through the life of our Jud.  We trust He wants to continue to use our son to work in people’s minds and hearts, leading them into deeper, more authentic relationship with their Creator, or even drawing people unto Himself for the first time.  Whether it be the website, or the book, or speaking engagements, or any other avenues the Lord puts before us, we are committed to allowing Him to use our boy however He sees fit.  Many of you have been journeying with us for the last two years, first praying for Judson’s healing, then praying for our family as we grieve, and now we hope you will consider partnering with us in prayer for our ministry as it continues to unfold.  We long for God to be present in all we do, blessing our efforts for the sake of His own glory.

That being said, as I have mentioned previously, part of Judson’s legacy is a short documentary that Talent 1 Media is creating about our little man.  Production begins this month!  We will actually be doing our first round of filming on the weekend of August 22 & 23.  As things move forward, we have wanted to be very intentional about bathing this project in prayer—asking the Spirit of God to move and work in and through this film.  This Monday, the evening of August 10, we will be having a video conference with the director of the movie to pray over this project.  Would you be willing to pray with us on the 10, 22, & 23 of this month, wherever you may be, and ask God to sanctify this project, protect the hearts and minds of those involved, and even now begin working in the souls of all who will see it.  We hope to see God move mightily!

There are other exciting things happening this month too!  Jessie and I, along with my mom (Drake could not get the vacation time) will be traveling to Buffalo, New York this Tuesday to take part in the Hunter’s Hope Krabbe Symposium for families and doctors.  We are definitely looking forward to the trip, but also anticipate the heavy emotions that come from being with other families who have walked a similar path while interacting with children who are currently afflicted by the disease.  But it will be especially nice this year to have faces I look forward to seeing and I am honored to be facilitating one of the sessions.  I expect the trip to be a rich time.

Upon our return we will be celebrating Jessie’s 3rd birthday on the 19th.  We marvel at the little lady she is becoming, soaking in each moment, our hearts overflowing with gratitude, while amazed by her growth and development.  We are certainly blessed to be the parents of two awesome kiddos and grateful that we are being given the gift of watching Jessie continue to grow and thrive.

Learning to rejoice in our pain,
Christina (on behalf of Drake too)