Dear family and friends…

Today we face into the third anniversary of the day death tore Judson from our arms.  Sometimes, as a protective mechanism, I try to reason out why today need not be any different than every other day we live without Jud, but my heart knows the gravity of what occurred in our lives three years ago, and the pain cannot be denied.

We remember.  And our hearts ache.

We remember the wretchedness of what Jud experienced in his last days.  We remember the powerlessness we felt.  We remember all of our fears that have since been realized.  We remember how our hopes for healing were snuffed out.  We remember our shock.  We remember.  We remember.  We remember.

And it hurts to remember.  But we remember, nonetheless.  We remember because we love Jud and cannot forget.   We remember because it is these days that have shaped every subsequent day of our lives.  We remember because in the remembering we see the weight of what God has done through his sacrifice. 

In our remembering we are brought to our knees, desperate for grace, desperate for our own healing, desperate to be more than we are now, desperate for God to redeem our pain.  In our remembering we gain glimpses into our life to come—into the life that Judson began experiencing the day he was torn from our arms—and our strength, hope, and faith are renewed.  God seems to meet us in our remembering.  And so we remember.

Thank you to all who remember with us.  We have been incredibly moved by the number of people who are mindful of our family and have especially reached out to share their love for us and Judson during this season.

With Brokenness & Hope,
Christina (on behalf of Drake & Jessie too)

P.S. Drake and I both wrote letters to Judson for today.  Find Turn Back TIme and A Short, Sweet Song on our blogs.

P.P.S  We are so blessed to have had several people choose to honor Judson by making videos of him to commemorate his three years in heaven.  Each one is a sweet gift.  I will be posting them on Judson’s Facebook page over the next couples days, but wanted to share this one here.  Thank you Millie, a friend we have never met, who clearly poured a ton of love into this beautiful video: