 |
| Rowan Tree flowers |
Rejoice with those who rejoice;
mourn with those who mourn.
- Romans 12:15
On June 11, 2012, my dear friend "Mrs. Mac" wrote this entry on her blog:
My sweet Rowan passed into the loving arms of our Heavenly Father at 3:12 this afternoon. God gave her a beautiful day for her home coming .. perfect blue skies .. and a beautiful sunset. My how one little gift from God changed so many lives. What a privilege it has been being her grandmother. My heart rejoices knowing that hers has been made whole.
Thank you to the many readers and friends that have been praying for our little heart warrior. She was born with hypo-plastic left heart syndrome where the left side of her heart did not form properly. Our family will see her once again in Heaven.
Rowan's mom Katie gave birth to her on December 12, 2011. They first found out about the baby's heart condition in August, four months before she was to be born.
This news required the whole family to gear up for the coming birth - and many friends - face to face, blogger, and FB friends -- were alerted for prayer support.
I live thousands of miles away from this family, but Baby Rowan was already on my heart even before she was born.
I have never even met Mrs. Mac personally. But she is today a precious friend.
For her January 2, 2012 welcome post, she wrote these beautiful words:
A new year, month, day .. and calendar page. Last year was sparse for posting on my blog. We had a second half of the year filled with anticipation, hope and worry with the arrival of our newest grandchild ... after learning that she has a heart condition in August .. that would need surgery soon after birth in December; it was a fast paced, hectic time to say the least. Baby is home with her parents and big brother. The whole event brought back so many memories 15 years ago when we welcomed our youngest son, Nathan, that needed TLC and surgeries after his birth. Such challenges try the soul .. and create unimaginable strength. Life goes on and we have to adjust. May the new year bring you strength to face the possible challenges ahead in 2012. Always be prepared, learn a new skill to help you survive whatever economic/health/weather storms may be on the horizon.
Such challenges try the soul .. and create unimaginable strength.
How appropriate her words are.
We never know what lies ahead, so her words "Always be prepared..." are words of wisdom for all of us to heed.
However, I believe that nobody can ever be fully prepared for the passing away of a loved one.
There is dignity in grief, and I know about walking alone through the valley of mourning. There are no adequate words for it.
Mrs. Mac doesn't know this, but she is one of my modern days heroes. I am one of her secret admirers.
If you ever have an opportunity to read her blog, you will have nothing but great admiration for this mighty woman of God. She has a 15 year old special needs child, Nathan - and her blog is full of stories about how she and her family have weathered this storm, and has helped them tap into an inner strength they never knew they had!
Mrs. Mac lives in North Idaho, "Snowmageddon" she calls her place during the wintertime. It really is a picture pretty place - near Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls, one of the few places I would love to visit in my lifetime.
She grows her own vegetables, maintains her home well, she bakes, cans most of what the family eats for the winter season, churns her own butter... she even makes her own laundry detergent - from scratch.
She has no time to wallow in self-pity - her daily life is full of things to do.
Yet she finds time to nurture her family relationships -- with her husband, Mr. Mac, and each of her children, including her grandchildren, Jacob and Rowan.
Facebooking has become quite an indispensable and important part of modern day communication... but you won't find me there.
I have stuck to blogging, because this is where I can pour my heart out (when I give myself time to do so), and allows me to share with whoever cares to know the recent happenings in my life and in my relationship with my heavenly Father.
Not only that, blogging has helped me connect and be in touch with the heart and soul of my blog friends.
"Mrs. Mac" (Cathy in real life) is one of such blog friends. We may not always have the time to leave comments on each other's posts, and Mrs. Mac probably doesn't know that I visit her blog place more often than she is aware of it.
But on this post, I do want to go out of my way to honor this dear woman for the beautiful way she has raised her children, equipping them for events such as this one.
I know her heart is breaking, but her faith is strong.
My heart bleeds for her daughter Katie, Rowan's mom. Her deep pain over this loss will never be felt by anyone else - except God alone, of course, and probably her own mother, Mrs. Mac.
Yet I also mourn in my own way. Ever since I received news of Rowan's homegoing, I have found myself in tears off and on. Not only me, many of us in the Scarf Sisterhood (Cathy's blog friends) have felt the same way. A common thread runs through our lives which has united us all in this season - praying for Baby Rowan... and now, grieving with her family.
 |
| Rowan Tree Berries |
It amazes me how much love there is in our hearts for one another - and most of us have never even personally met... only in the blog neighborhood do we "visit" and get to know each other.
It is really like heaven on earth, this kind of friendship.
Because in heaven, the language we speak is not the language of spoken words.
The language of heaven is feelings. Here on earth, I have to use so many words to make myself understood... but then I am fortunate to have a few friends who know how I feel without my having to use words. It is the language of intuition.
So to my dear Mrs. Mac, Mr. Mac, Katie, Ryan and the rest of the family ... as you put dear Baby Rowan's earthly body to rest this weekend, and as you go through your valley of grief for this season, know that I am keeping you close to my heart.
In the area of our deepest pain, God comes to bring healing, comfort and strength. I have experienced this first hand when my beloved Ernie went home to heaven four years ago.
God is near to the broken hearted... precious in His eyes is the death of His saints.
He keeps our tears in a bottle.
May our Father, the God of All Comfort, come alongside your family in this season of mourning.
He is the God who promises to make all things beautiful in His time.
Heaven is our hearts' true home - there God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. And in that land, there are no goodbyes.
To Baby Rowan (A tribute I wrote on the Scarf Sisters blog)
Rowan's Story (written by her mom, Katie)
Baby Rowan (Katie's account of her baby's homegoing)
 |
| Rowan Tree - Meaning |
11 comments:
God gave me two great blessings this morning:
1. You visited my blog
2. To your blog I came, read, and felt extremely moved. Indeed Lidia, you are gifted with much from the Holy Spirit. and you return those gifts in your actions, prayers, writings.
It is good to 'know' you.
PEACE!
Steve
I have also been praying for baby Powan. I am a friend of Pat (Living on Grace), also of the scarf sisterhood. She has been keeping all of her Facebook friends up to date on the prayer requests. Rowan was a beautiful baby, and although our prayers were for healing here, we know she is now fully healed and with God!
Thanks for this tribute to Mrs Mac!
I thank God for different relationships He gives us while we are here. Through those, we also find strength if we are facing life's severe storms. This is a beautiful example of how the Lord's love bridges the gap and truly binds everyone with that strong kind of bond. It doesn't matter if we know each other or not. It doesn't matter where we are.
God comforts us first so we may comfort others. I pray for His comfort and strength to fill the hearts of those who knew baby Rowan. I love the meaning of that Rowan tree. Baby Rowan didn't die. Baby Rowan lived. Transformed. Regenerated...
Oh Lidia .. Thank you for such an outpouring of healing in your words. The Lord has a way of binding our wounds and comforting us with the kindness of others.
Our family mourns the passing of little Rowan .. but we are at peace knowing she is completely healed and in God's presence.
I shared some of the lovely post you made for the Scarf Sisters blog with Katie and the lady putting together the slide show for Rowans 'Celebration of Life' service tomorrow ... they will be using some of what you've shared.
God is orchestrating .. even the grieving and the big/small details of our our celebration.
We live in a unique time; being able to reach out to people around the world in the blink of an eye to find friendship and comfort, blessings, the Word of God. Thank you for sharing in our grief and bringing a ray of sunshine from God into our midst.
Love,
Cathy
Dear Lidia,
I am glad I came by today to learn of Rowan and her family. I have met a neighbor because of your post: I also live in northern Idaho, less than 50 miles from Coeur d'Alene.
Thank you for posting this tribute to a dear little girl and her family.
Many blessings!
Dimple
I think it's probably one of the hardest things to lose a child. Grief....it's so tough.....Your post is powerful Lidia.....You have an amazing heart.
For the cord that binds us strongly is Jesus. A three strand cord of a relationship makes the bond strong.
In these times of loss, it is always good when we have friends + our Lord. In the human strand, we grieve for the loss yet when we look at what's above.... it gives us peace for we know the loved one who went ahead in now in the true home.
Good to know Rowan and his folks who have the strong stand of Jesus to bind them in His love.
See you there!
More healing to report in the form of an actual 'Rowan' tree to plant on our property .. a reminder of our sweet baby cakes from the Scarf Sisters. Hugs,
P.S. Katie has not seen it yet .. she will be find a ray of comfort tomorrow :)
Dear Lidia,
The Lord has blessed you, helping us expressing our deep felt sorrow.
Now I'm actually smiling. The Rowan tree has arrived for the day of her funeral.
Many good women have worked together to make that happen, among them you.
May Rowan's sweet soul rest in peace.
dear crown of beauty..this is a lovely tribute to sweet rowan...i wish you would put it over at the sisters....love terry
Post a Comment