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All, I'm sorry I've not been able to update the blog. I've been spending precious time with my baby girl. Tina spent most of last evening sleeping together with Eden on her chest. Today we took little Eden off the machines and immediately you could see the relief on her face. She was really tired of the tubes and needles.
God gave us nine wonderful hours with our baby girl before He very peacefully took her home. Of the seven glorious days we've had with our darling girl, this one was the best. Our hearts ache at not seeing her again on this earth, but it was without question the right thing to do for her.
It is after midnight, I haven't slept in two days, so I will end this difficult post here. Please know that this is NOT the end of the story. I will post many more entries and photos of Eden here and try to post a complete history of how God used this little miracle to change so many lives.
Eden rests with the Lord in her new, non-t18, body. Please do not grieve for her as she is comforted. Tina and I would cherish your prayers for strength as we are certainly going to go through a roller-coaster ride of emotions.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR COMMENTS!!! Please check back soon!
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35 comments:
I am sorry to hear of your loss. I am keeping you and Tina in my prayers
Tina and Jonathan,
The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace. Psalm 29:11
We are praying for your strength and peace and we love you. Thank you for sharing precious Eden with all of us.
Love,
Charlene and Laura
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints...truly Eden is among those saints whom we see gathered around His throne praising Him! We pray that we will all be there soon with her, worshipping our LOVING Father and Creator.
Our prayers are with you all. Tina, my mother's heart goes out to you especially. I am weeping with you.
Jeanine
Hi Tina and John, Cheri and I have been following your blog since very early on when Angela sent it to us. We grieve for you and rejoice with you all at the same time. Our problems pale relative to yours. I continue to be amazed at your strength and your composure. God has truly equipped you and I applaud you for your faith and dedication to Him. You and your testimony have touched us in many ways. We have 2 precious kids and 4 very special grandkids, who are all "normal." I am not sure I could have displayed the character you have during your ordeal. Tina and John are special people who walk your talk. I am amazed, impressed, and spiritually envious. God is using little Eden and little Eden's parents to further His kingdom and we thank you. We continue to pray diligently for you. It was special for Eden to see her Grandmother before leaving this earth and good for Grandmother to see Eden, too. There are many special blessings your ordeal has generated. Cheri and I have been touched and we love you for it. Keep the strength and we know it is only from God that that strength will be provided. God will give you strength, knowledge wisdom, love...in abundance. We love you, miss you, would love to see you upon your return to Colorado. Please keep you blog up as we enjoy keeping up with you again. Cheri and Lee Ofner
Indeed we grieve with you while at the same time find comfort in knowing that now she is perfect and in God's hands. We will be lifting you up in our prayers.
John and Vida Burtis
Rebekah, Emily and Morgan
John and Tina,
We are praying that God places layers upon layers of comfort and peace on your hearts. We pray that you will know the "peace that passes all understanding", that while you will not be able to describe it, you will know it is as real as your love for each other. Know that you are being prayed for - constantly!
Uncle Chris & Aunt Linda
The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed me the name of the Lord. Prayers for you both. Georgia
If it is any comfort, you know you have a treasure in heaven waiting for you. I will be praying for God's comfort now and His peace that passes all understanding in the days ahead.
With love, Joyce
I've never met you, but I wanted to let you know I'll be praying for you. My sister lost a little girl at 28 weeks pregnant. Treasure those moments you got to hold her, and know that God is holding her now. -Tricia
Our hearts grieve with you and rejoice with heaven. We will be praying for peace, comfort, and joy for you and Tina. We wish we were closer to give hugs, shed tears, and provide additional support.
Love,
Parnell, Donna, Abi, and Allyson
Tina and Jonathan,
I grieve with you and also rejoice in knowing that Eden is in the Father's hands. Thank you for sharing Eden's short life with us. Her story will certainly be retold countless times to many and she will indeed continue to bless all who hear it.God bless you both and draw you close in the days and weeks ahead.
Love,
Luze Teel
Grieving, but not like those who have no hope! Crying, praying right now. From a real old Vineyard song - Where would I be without you Jesus? Your mercy towards me is more than I can understand. Where would I be without your love? J E S U S ......
Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Words can not explain but God he knew and knows. We love you guys and will continue to stand in the gap in asking for strength and the Lord continue to be your hope and peace. Theresa Redden
John and Tina:
We love you and continue to pray for you. We know that God will continue to give you strengh and comfort, knowing that your precious Eden in now at His feet.
Don and Laura
Tina and John,
I was in Biology through AIG with you back in the spring. My dad (Ron Dudek) just sent the link for your blog to me and I just caught up on the last few months. I am so, so sorry to read about your loss. I wish there were words to say that could take away the pain, but know that my husband and I are doing the best we can over here with prayers. I pray that God will richly bless your lives for the testimony you are giving and that He will comfort you and hold you during this time. Thank you so much for the blessing and testimony you have given through your willingness to share about precious Eden.
Debi
Dear John and Tina,
You are a precious testimony of God's love, grace and almighty power. Thank you for sharing your love for God and baby Eden's life with us. We have been touched by your lives each one of these pasts 7 days. I know brothers and sisters from Peru have been praying for all of you too throughout these last days and have been rejoicing with each one of your posts too.
May our loving and protecting Father continue to Bless and to Use you for HIS heavenly purpose.
Our love and hearts are with you guys,
RonnyJazmin
Please know that we are holding you two before the throne of God. I pray that you will truly feel the loving arms of Jesus surrounding and holding you...much like you cuddled Eden those last precious hours. Please continue to feel Him walking with you through this valley. Lovingly, Jim and Cherie Redden (parents of your friend and cooworker Mark.)
hey guys its hannah here, i am so sorry to hear the lose of your baby girl. i know whay you are going through because i went through it as well. you are in my prayer and thoughts. i love you all
Tina & J,
I'm so glad God chose to bless you with Eden - I can see how much you adored her and I've been totally touched by your (and her) story. What a powerful amazing life she had - from conception, to going home to her NEW body. As a new mom myself, I feel connected and know that special love you felt. Eden came - she touched lives, just in 7 days! Who knows what ripple affect her life will have. I think of this Natalie Grant song "held":
"This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we'd be held."
Eden: Thank you little one - for reminding me how much God loves me, and for inspiring me to improve my prayer life. Even though we were strangers on earth - I can't wait to meet you someday!
I will continue praying - and I will always remember little Eden! Thank you for sharing your experience and your daughter's life with us!
-Kim Adamski
Tina and John, My heart goes out to you but I hope it gives you peace to know Eden is with our God without pain or discomfort. She is rejoicing being in heaven and being able to look over you. Eden is your own special little angel. I look forward to meeting her in heaven. I love you so much, Gus
P.S. A friend told me of this Christian website that you may want to look at. www.mend.org (Mommies Enduring Neo-natal death)
Tina, Jonathan and Marianne and family,
I am so very sorry for your loss in this life, but all of you will never be the same for the experience of knowing little Eden; I had this thought that now she has met her Grandfather Bob and Uncle Rick and they will praise our Lord together forever.
Your remarkable strength and courage during this has been a testimony to all. May God give you His strength and comfort,
Lovingly,
Sandy (Marianne's friend in El Paso)
i have been sitting here for ages trying to work out the right wods to sa i have writtten deleted ad re written over and over, you both know my heart i am SO sorry!
Kelly
Dear Tina and John,
John, I dont know you but through your words I can see you are just as an amazing person as your beautful wife Tina. I have never met anyone with the exuberance and positive energy that she exudes. Even through this whole experience she has remained postive and dtermined to relish every minute of this experience of Eden.
You both deserved such a better outcome and my heart breaks for you that it wasnt to be. Thank you for sharing this with us and for your precious memories and photos of Eden.
I am not particularly religious but your words have been beautiful and I am so glad you draw the strength you do from your beliefs.
My love to you all,
Simone. x
Seems the right words can't be found to express all we are feeling, and it's during this time we find our prayers are with groanings, His Holy Spirit making intercession for us. We pray for both of you, and for all who have been so deeply touched.
God bless and keep you. May He continue to strengthen you. May He draw all of us closer to Him in the relationship He so earnestly desires.
Thank you again, John and Tina, for sharing your precious Eden's life with us. We love you and miss you, and wish we were with you at this time. Know that you are constantly on our hearts and in our prayers.
We love you,
Steve & Tammie
We are so sorry, we are praying for you both. We are also thankful that Eden can now rest in the arms of our Lord!
Though some of us might grieve the angels rejoice as she enters heaven.
we love you guys so much.
Love Fi and Pete
Dear Tina and Jonathan,
We are very sad to hear of your loss. Our prayers are with you both and with Eden. She is now at peace and with Our Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven. She will always be with you in mind and spirit and I am sure she will look over and protect you both, her loving parents, until the day when you are reunited with her and with Jesus in Heaven. It would be such a joyous occasion.
God Bless you both, Always.
Andrew Low, Vanessa and Ashleigh.
John & Tina,
Your heading sums up your experience perfectly "The Best Day and Worst Day". We grieve with you for your loss but rejoice with you for your beautiful daughter; the time you've had, the bonds you've shared and that Eden now lives and celebrates with Jesus. So we grieve for you, but not for Eden; what is our loss is her gain - how blessed is she to be living in her Father's house.
We will continue to pray for you and shed some tears too. Chris, Karen, Jaime & Cara.
I thoughts and prayer are with your family. I am so glad to hear that Eden is no longer struggling and is now in her perfect form.
To my brother and sister in Christ...I believe God has chosen you for a very specific and unique blessing...and you have remained genuine, as strong witnesses to the power of God's love and to His promise of living in the hope of things to come. Reading thru what others are saying fortifies this belief.
You two have always been a bit 'different' - but in a very good way! :)
John - you are the strongest man of faith I've ever met; blessed with the desire and ability to humbly teach God's lessons to us each week in a simple, relevent, and logical way. Surely lives around the world have been and will be deeply touched by your faithfulness in spending time with our Lord in formulating the right words to put on this blog. Thank you, thank you for that - it is not done in vain. Eden is so blessed for God to have chosen you to be her papa. She's probably up there with her chest puffed up, saying, "That's my daddy!"
Tina - you overflow with such joy, that even during this difficult week you have inspired the women around you to find the 'brighter side of things' -no matter what their belief is. You truly are a walking testimony to the 'joy of the Lord'. Where John has the words, you have the actions. I'm so happy to be called your friend and I will always be your Norm. Eden is so blessed for God to have chosen you to be her mom. She's probably up there cheerleading and encouraging you thru the responses from all these folks commenting on the blog entries. Take comfort in these and surge ahead thru this valley.
Cling to each other well and - as always - keep Jesus in the centre for balance.
Here's a BIG HUG for you. And I, too, am living in the hope of seeing Eden again one day.
Love always - Barney
Hey Guys. Sorry for your loss. I know we may never completely understand in this life why things have happened this way, but I hope that you will allow God's peace to comfort you during this time... Jon and Betty(my Mum).
Tina and John,
Thank you for sharing your blog. Simone sent it to me and I have not had you all out of my thoughts for the last few days.
Your words and photos of your journey have been so so moving. I am so sorry that Eden's journey in this life has ended so soon although she has touched us all with her strength and willpower. My thoughts are with you both.
Kelly Burton
I am so sorry you only got to hold Eden here on earth for such a short time. I know your heartbreak. I also am so thankful you know this is only a temporary goodbye and that YOU WILL be with Eden again... and this time there will be no tubes getting in your way!
Thank you for sharing your precious Eden. Such a beautiful little girl. Congratulations for being chosen at Eden's Mummy and Daddy- you must feel so proud.
I shall continue to pray for you all.
With love
Alyssa
Dear John & Tina,
We were heartbroken to hear the tragic news of little Eden's passing. Our thoughts are with you during this most testing of times.
"Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended". Isaiah 60:20
John and Henar.
Though I dont know you personally I have been praying for your family as I myself had a 8 week preemie baby recently. God was our strength through the whole experience and our daughter Eliana Grace is now a healthy 7 month old. I cannot imagine your heart ache and I am very sorry to hear of your loss. I imagine you will always treasure the moments you had with Eden forever. Thankyou for sharing your lives with us. I will continue to pray for strength, peace and comfort for your family.
God Bless Carol
Hi John and Tina,
Will be praying for you.
Love from Jenny
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