Keelan: Little, Fair. This precious, tiny, fragile baby was and is loved so deeply, and I know that the depth of my love for this little one is little in comparison with the Lord's love for both me and my children.
Sabbath: Rest. Eternal glory is a sabbath rest, and this little one has entered that rest. The Lord has also given us rest from our grief with this assurance and comfort.
Pinckard: A part of our family forever, and a hole in our hearts until we join that Sabbath rest.
Keelan and Brighton's blurry ultrasounds hang on our living room wall with their names and birthdates written underneath the only pictures we have of them. Together, the names, pictures, dates, and the hollow space in our lives are the only things we have of them this side of heaven. Their names are so precious to us because they allow us to name that feeling of something missing that never quite goes away, even in the happiest of times. They allow us to honor them as image bearers and children of God. Their names remind us that though they are far away, they are no less real. Though they were small, they are not small in the mind and the plan of the Lord, and they are not small in our minds and hearts either. In fact, they are a huge part of our everyday lives. They remind us that one day, we will meet them face to face, and in their presence, we will call them the names that we have given them in their absence. Together, we will worship the Lord who holds us all in his hands. Our children are not our own, "but belong body and soul, in life and in death, to our faithful savior Jesus Christ." We praise him for Brighton and Keelan's lives and that he cares for them, that he cares for us, and that we are not left without hope as we grieve, but rest in his sacrifice that has granted us eternal life and the great comfort and joy that we have because of it.
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