Chris and Cheryl Ellis, who also lost their precious daughter to cancer, created this memorial collage as part of a project they did to increase awareness of childhood cancer. 

[Note added 8/4/2014: We found out months after this post that little baby Aura is now a playmate in heaven with our Emily.]

Sonja and I spent nearly three weeks in Zacapa, Guatemala, in July.  The mission where we stayed is called Hope of Life.  One of its ministries is a Baby Rescue Center.  The day Sonja went there, they handed her an adorable little infant named Aura (pronounced AH-oo-ah), who is a twin.  We know little about her twin, but Aura has Down syndrome and was extremely small for a 7-month old.  Needless to say, we were reminded of our Emily and had an instant interest in this precious girl whose name means "ambiance, feeling, semblance." 

We returned to the Baby Rescue Center several times during our stay there to check on Aura and just love on her.  How thankful we are for ministries like Hope of Life that value the life of these precious ones!  They rescue over 1,000 per year.  Most of these babies live in the mountains, are near death, and are so poor that their families cannot even afford to travel down the mountains to access health care.  So, Hope of Life goes to the mountains seeking these children. 

Today would have been Emily's 18th birthday.  We celebrated by embracing memories of her -- looking through old photo albums and reading from a memory book of stories we've collected about her.
The day began by finding out that Megan's childhood friend just died this morning of Hodgkin's lymphoma.  For years, Crystal Jewell was like a sister to Megan and a daughter to us.  Our hearts go out to Crystal's family as they, too, begin to embrace memories.

 

On Emily's birthday each year, we plant something in our yard.  This was what we planted today.

Hearing Her Voice

These two recordings of Emily's voice were recorded on Sonja's cell phone.  Sonja gave the phone to a friend and then -- months after Emily died -- we got an email from the friend with the two recordings attached.  HOW PRECIOUS!  We're so glad we didn't lose them.  They're only a few seconds each.  Click on the links below to hear them:
Emily Singing Jingle Bells
Emily says "I love you, too, Mommy"

A Christmas Memory

This picture was taken at Emily's school in Florida before we moved to Virginia.  She loved Christmas, the story of Jesus, and the traditions of Santa, lights, the tree -- and carols.  She loved to sing Christmas carols.

Our last Christmas with her was in the hospital less than a week before she met face-to-face the One whose birth we celebrated.  The whole family was there, and we decided that it would be as normal a Christmas as possible, so we read the story of Jesus' birth and sang carols, and -- as sick as she was -- she tried her best to sing along, even though she was feeble.  

Today, she's singing His praises out loud.  And on pitch.  (As much as we loved to hear Emily sing, she was usually far off pitch, but it was the most "joyful noise" we had ever heard.)

A Word from Sister Abbie on Emily's 17th Birthday

A WORD FROM SISTER ABBIE: "Today would be Emily's 17th birthday, if she was still alive. When I think of Emily, I think of a gift so precious, so undeserving, that I begin to realize why God would want her in heaven with Him instead of in this dark world. She had such a pure heart and passionate soul. She loved everyone to the fullest extent and clung to the people around her. I miss her each and every day. But somehow it feels like the pain of her not being here starts to come alive again on events like this one. Emily, I will see you again. And when I do, It will be the happiest day of my life. I miss you so much and cherish the time I spent with you. I love you ♥ Happy Birthday."
We planted a snowball bush in her memory today. It's not bloomed yet, so the picture below is of the lilac bush we planted last year for her 16th.

Annual Movie Night in Memory of Emily

Toy Hine, the children's ministry coordinator at our church (Thomas Road Baptist Church) just told us about an annual movie night she does in memory of Emily. It's for kids and adults with intellectual disabilities in the community. Emily loved movies, so this is very fitting! (Toy is her real name. How appropriate for someone who works with children's ministry!)

Death of a Child

I was asked to write an entry entitled "Death of a Child" for the Popular Encyclopedia of Christian Counseling (2011). Just researching and writing the piece was very healing for me. CLICK HERE to read the article.

Three Years Ago Today

Three years ago today, Emily went home to be with Jesus. We woke up today to this painting outside our bedroom door.Ilana Poole (who had just got back from ministering with Megan in Thailand) painted it. The words say . . .

We wait in hope for the Lord.

He is our help and our shield; in Him our hearts rejoice

for we trust in His holy name.

May your unfailing love be with us,

Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 33:20-22

Message from Mindi Robinson Mulligan

From Mindi: "I just wanted to tell you a quick story. I have been assigned an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) music class this year, which threw me off at first, but now I have come to love it. One of my students reminds me of sweet Emily, and I was reminded so much of her today. We are learning about holidays around the world and their music, and today was Germany. We made Christmas tree ornaments out of beads and the student had such a fascination with the beads that I couldn't help but get a little teary as I thought of the days I used to teach Emily in the upstairs of White Chapel. Thank you for sharing your daughter with me. The lessons that she taught me are carrying on through today!"