Elise Hope Johnston

With Love
Remembering our daughter,

Elise Hope Johnston

December 16, 2006

"Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray...Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.'”

"I can’t imagine heaven’s lullabies and what they must sound like. But I will rest in knowing, heaven is your home, And it’s all you’ll ever know…all you’ll ever know." - "Glory Baby" by Watermark

In Memory

Per my mom's request, here is the entire passage from C. S. Lewis' book, The Last Battle that I took the below quote from:

"Then Aslan turned to them and said, 'You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be.' Lucy said, 'We're so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back to our own world so often.' 'No fear of that,' said Aslan. 'Have you not guessed?'

Their hearts leaped, and a wild hope rose within them. 'There was a real railway accident,' said Aslan softly. 'Your father and mother and all of you are--as you used to call it in the Shadowlands--dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.'

And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

In Memory

In memory of my grandfather

Jesse Lancelot Bailey, better known as "Lannie"

June 5, 1917 - December 9, 2008

"The dream is ended: this is the morning."

With You

Isaiah 43:1-2

This past week a couple we know who go to Covenant Life church (where Dave went to the Pastor's College) lost their 5 week old baby girl suddenly and unexpectedly. I cannot imagine the deep pain and grief that they are experiencing. We've been praying for them and their two little girls ever since hearing the news. I have been holding my two boys a little tighter too. I read this hymn in Spurgeon's "Beside Still Waters" this week:

"There is no adversity so dark, so deep, or so apparently pathless that you cannot discover the Crucified One's footsteps when you kneel. In the fires, in the rivers, in the cold night, and under the burning sun He cries:

Fear not I am with you, O be not dismayed.
For I am your God, and will still give you aid.
I'll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand

When through the deep waters I call you to go,
The rivers of sorrow will not overflow,
For I will be with you, your trials to bless,
And sanctify to you your deepest distress

When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,
My grace all-sufficient shall be your supply
The flames shall not hurt you, I only design
Your dross to consume and your gold to refine."

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. - Revelation 21.4

I read this blog post a few months ago and I think it's excellent. It's by a woman who had a stillbirth baby girl and it's "How to Help Your Grieving Friend."

http://thepipers.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/how-to-help-your-grieving-friend/

May the Lord comfort this family and be so, so near to them in their loss.

Elise Hope

Today I've been thinking a lot about our baby girl who is in heaven. My friend in PA, Jen, and her family are grieving the loss of her oldest brother's and his wife's baby. She was about 5 months along and today found out at a scheduled ultrasound that their baby had died. She will have to deliver the baby just like I did. Our hearts go out to them and their entire family which I've always felt were like a second family to me. I've been thinking about them and praying for them all day. This has brought back the terrible memories of the day we found out our baby had died and being induced later that night and then delivering her the next morning. Feeling the grief that will never completely go away as there will always be someone missing in our family. I wish she was here with us. Sometimes when I look at our two boys, I think to myself that she should be here with us too. I know someday we will be all together and the hope is what I cling to. This verse was true and was a great comfort to us especially during the first weeks after losing Elise:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.

Isaiah 43:2

We miss you Elise and look forward to our reunion in perfect joy.