Rileigh Rose Jackson
January 18, 2005
In His presence is fullness of joy
Today is Rileigh Rose's 4th birthday, in heaven. We miss her dearly, but are comforted knowing she is well and her heavenly Father is close to her, celebrating her arrival into the everlasting kingdom four years ago.
Starting off this blog post, since most of you are close friends and family that read this, I want to say a heart felt thanks for all of your prayers for Lindy and I over these past 4 years. God has been faithful, and used the prayers of you all to help us find our way through deep valleys. We thank God for all of you, and pray that you feel God's pleasure in that you have cared for us well.
God has been, and will be, faithful to us. One of the ways I am freshly aware of his faithfulness to us, in light of the loss of Riliegh, is that he has kept us over these past 4 years. He has protected us by drawing both Lindy and I to himself individually, made our marriage stronger by knitting our hearts closer together, and he placed us in a solid local church which has faithfully cared for us by making us aware of the truth of the Gospel and God's character. Because of these things we've been able to worship God for what we know of him, and not withhold worship from him because of unanswered questions as to why this happened to our little girl. Our hearts are full as we consider the fact that despite our sin and ways we drift from God every single day, he has shown us great mercy, continued to be patient with us, and he does not let go of us.
One of the reasons we thank God for Rileigh is because in her death, it has loosened our grip on the things in this world. She has caused us to really look forward to eternity in heaven. Part of this is because she is a tangible gift waiting for us in heaven. We held Rileigh on this earth for only moments before letting her go. But, there is a day coming when we will hold her body again, and this time it will be full of life! What a gift both of us are looking forward to! I can't express in words how excited Lindy and I are about the eventual reunion with Rileigh. Whenever it is that I get there, I cannot wait to meet Jesus face to face. How sweet it will be to worship him, and say thank you a thousand times over for saving me from my sins so that I can be in paradise. I will also say thank you because if he didn't save me, then I would never have seen my little girl again. After I've spent time with him, I expect my eyes will start to wander, looking for Rileigh Rose. When our eyes meet, and Jesus makes it clear that, yes indeed, that is Rileigh, what a glorious embrace, what joyful tears will be shed at that moment when I see her again. This is something both Lindy and I think of often and are eagerly looking forward to.
Starting off this blog post, since most of you are close friends and family that read this, I want to say a heart felt thanks for all of your prayers for Lindy and I over these past 4 years. God has been faithful, and used the prayers of you all to help us find our way through deep valleys. We thank God for all of you, and pray that you feel God's pleasure in that you have cared for us well.
God has been, and will be, faithful to us. One of the ways I am freshly aware of his faithfulness to us, in light of the loss of Riliegh, is that he has kept us over these past 4 years. He has protected us by drawing both Lindy and I to himself individually, made our marriage stronger by knitting our hearts closer together, and he placed us in a solid local church which has faithfully cared for us by making us aware of the truth of the Gospel and God's character. Because of these things we've been able to worship God for what we know of him, and not withhold worship from him because of unanswered questions as to why this happened to our little girl. Our hearts are full as we consider the fact that despite our sin and ways we drift from God every single day, he has shown us great mercy, continued to be patient with us, and he does not let go of us.
One of the reasons we thank God for Rileigh is because in her death, it has loosened our grip on the things in this world. She has caused us to really look forward to eternity in heaven. Part of this is because she is a tangible gift waiting for us in heaven. We held Rileigh on this earth for only moments before letting her go. But, there is a day coming when we will hold her body again, and this time it will be full of life! What a gift both of us are looking forward to! I can't express in words how excited Lindy and I are about the eventual reunion with Rileigh. Whenever it is that I get there, I cannot wait to meet Jesus face to face. How sweet it will be to worship him, and say thank you a thousand times over for saving me from my sins so that I can be in paradise. I will also say thank you because if he didn't save me, then I would never have seen my little girl again. After I've spent time with him, I expect my eyes will start to wander, looking for Rileigh Rose. When our eyes meet, and Jesus makes it clear that, yes indeed, that is Rileigh, what a glorious embrace, what joyful tears will be shed at that moment when I see her again. This is something both Lindy and I think of often and are eagerly looking forward to.
So, in an effort to remember Rileigh, I thought I would share these thoughts as a way to honor her birthday. Rileigh, happy birthday sweetheart. Your Mom and I cannot wait to hold you again. We know that you are well, and we know the number of days we will be apart will be far less compared to the days we will be together. We love you.
Dad and Mom
Dad and Mom
8 comments:
Happy Birthday, Rileigh. We look forward to meeting you one day. I hope you are showing our little Elise around and telling her all about our Savior.
Keith and Lindy, we love you and we're praying for you today. With tears and hope, we remember your precious daughter on today, her birthday. May our Lord be near to you and may you experience his comfort and peace.
What a beautiful tribute to Rileigh Rose! Our prayers are with you today.
Thank you so much for sharing this with us!! We truly appreciate you allowing us to see the beautiful picture of our little neice. Today we wish Rileigh a wonderful birthday in heaven and are praying for you and your family. We love you all very much!
I'm praying for God's comfort and joy today for you all.
He showers us with blessing upon blessing and we can trust His character bring us safely to His side! Doris Spier
Lindy and Keith,
You are in your prayers and we cannot wait to meet your sweet daughter one day! You are a very special family and we know that God is surrounding you with His care!! Love, Andy,Jen and family
Happy Birthday, little Rileigh Rose! It seems only moments ago that we anticipated meeting you and learned that we would need to wait a little longer. We miss you, we love you, and we are so excited to meet you in heaven baby girl! The amazing thing is that right at this moment, you are smiling knowing the reasons and knowing that this is the best thing for everyone! Give Jesus a hug and kiss for me and enjoy your 4th birthday celebrating it in his arms! You are one lucky little girl! We all can't wait to join you!
Keith and Lindy,
We are praying for you, as always and rejoicing at all of the grace we see in your lives over the past 4 years. God has been good and kind! Instead of bitterness and grief, joy abounds! What a wonderful tribute this is to your little girl and even more what an amazing job you are doing of submitting all of this to God repeatedly and honoring him! With many tears of sadness but also of joy, we remember Rileigh with you and rejoice that she is in a better place where we will all one day be! We love you guys and pray peace over your household and a joy that can only come from knowing the Savior!
Wow, that's touching. Even though we don't have children yet, this post made me weep. It blows my mind how you can thank God for His faithfulness and care in the midst of this. Thank you for being a wonderful example of trust and joy in suffering.
Dear Keith and Lindy,
Thank you so much for writing this tribute to Rileigh and to God's grace in your lives. Debbie and I were both effected by your love for Rileigh, your love for God, and your awareness of God's love for you. I wept as we read it. I wept over your suffering in Rileigh's going home to Jesus so soon, and I wept over the everlasting hope that we have that all who are united in Christ will be together with Him forever. I'm looking forward to seeing you both together with Rileigh, and I'm glad that I'll have the joy of that moment to look forward to. Thank you so much for writing this because it will serve us to grab hold of the love of God in whatever we may suffer in this life. Thank you for glorifying God as you've walked this road.
love,
Dan and Debbie
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