Balloons

Wow, we were so overwhelmed by your response! I have marveled at the way God took this little idea (in my mind) and used it in so many ways that I never imagined. For, "His plans are always bigger than ours."

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3: 20-21.

From stories of one getting to share at the grocery store why she was buying the balloons when the lady kindly asked,"Is it for a Birthday?" To then another when talking to the lady making the balloons was able to share the reason for our hope is Jesus. Later, the two ladies who are good friends were sharing their stories. They realized that they both had talked to the same lady. God used one of them to sprinkle the seed and the other to water the seed. Another story of a sweet "stranger" who came upon my blog on Tuesday for the first time. She was led to have her two boys say a prayer for us and release two balloons. She said she was reminded how precious and fragile life is. Later that evening her 27 month old fell and had to have stitches. She was thankful she had already been mindful of how quickly life can change and what a privilege it is to smother her little ones with love. Still another story of healing in letting off a balloon for Brock and a second one for the baby they miscarried a few weeks ago. The loss happened just days after they heard the heartbeat for the first time. He wrote, "it was quite a sight to behold as the two balloons went soaring up into the sky set against such an awesome sight as this famous national monument. This simple act certainly symbolized something we've both needed to do for a while now. " I could go on and on with the stories you shared. Please feel free to share them in the comment section for all to be encouraged.

Drew mentioned that he wished we had a time release video of our church as so many let their balloons go from that campus. I think that is such a symbolic picture of the Body of Christ. I believe from looking at the pictures that balloons were released from all sides of the building. It has taken me a bit to get them up because I got the idea to put them in time order and then they got jumbled when I uploaded them. I am glad I did though as the pictures covered from the sunrise on that day to the sunset and evening....symbolic of how we were covered in prayed all day long.

Wow, God you are so amazing! As you look at the pictures I hope you will be reminded of that as you see the beautiful sky God painted for that day.

I don't know if I have all the words to articulate it yet but, there was something special about the act of releasing the balloons. There was certainly an array of emotions as we got tickled at how one balloon made it all the way past many trees to get caught on the last limb before rising above. It reminded us of Brock's cute laugh. There was also the sadness of why we were letting these balloons off. It reminded us of our great loss. Feelings of hope washed over us as we watched the balloons rise to a place beyond ours! It reminded us that we are so thankful for the hope of Heaven we have to be together with Brock again. Finally what an awesome feeling of smallness to look up at that big beautiful blue sky. An incredible feeling of recognizing that the God of the universe is in control and I am not. A reminder that He loves me so much to care about the smallest of details in my life like a blue sky for a sad day.

If you have yet to send your pictures don't worry I will add them in as I get them.

Enjoy!

The day Brock Came

Thank you so much for your prayers, thoughts, cards, hugs, emails and pictures. They were precious reminders from the Lord of how much He cares for us.

Our day was up and down. I must have asked the Lord a thousand times why couldn't Brock just be here for us to celebrate him here. I longed several times for God to just come and take us all to Heaven so that we could all be together. Thinking of Brock turning 4 was not comforting. Mason said that thought made him feel like Brock was becoming someone he did not know. We assured him that when he finally sees Brock again, he will fully know him. Oh Lord, this journey is so hard. Thank You we have You to cling to.

So, we tried to focus our celebration on the day Brock came into our lives. God was so sweet to bring us great memories all day long. Our day was sprinkled with joy as we received pictures of your balloon releases. We went to the grave side as a family around 2:30 and lost track of time. It was a time of tears and laughs as we watched our balloons dodge the tree limbs as they tip-toed into the crystal blue, cloudless sky. We each talked about our favorite thing we liked about Brock.

Here's what we said, Barrett...."He was my friend and was always there to play with", Mason..."there was always life and noise when Brock was around, there was never a dull moment, he brought so much happiness to our lives, I also liked the way he touched so many lives in his short life, more than I have touched in all my life," Asa..."It was a privilege to be his big brother because everybody thought he was so cute, I liked his crooked teeth when he smiled", Drew...."I liked his laugh and smile and the way he would run, his energy, his cadence", Me...."I liked his rough little voice, his own language and his hugs that wrapped around my neck and his head on my shoulder."

We sang Happy Birthday and God our Father (we thank you-for our little Brockie). Then, we let our balloons go. This made us laugh and cry.

The moon was already out. We watched Asa's balloon until it seemed as if it were higher than the moon. We imagined a closet full of balloons where Jesus keeps all the balloons for the children. Asa said he found himself imagining Brock on a play ground and Jesus giving him a balloon and then Brock getting to share all the others that were released with all the other children in Heaven. We don't know if there are balloons in Heaven, but we do know that it is far better than we could even imagine or hope.

We ended our time with each of us praying and thanking God for the gift of Brock in our life.
On our way home I thought...what a beautiful sky the Lord painted for us to release balloons into. Then when we arrived home and received all your photos on the computer, we were so overwhelmed. They are beautiful. Such a kiss from the Lord. I am going to try really hard tomorrow to get them up. If you haven't yet sent yours, you can still do so. I'll just add them as they come in. God used this little idea to bless us in huge ways. Again, more than we could have even imagined.

We thank you. Once again you allowed the Lord to use you to help us through a really sad, bittersweet day. God Bless you. We love you.

When we finished our time praying at the cemetery, Barrett said, "Mama, while you were praying I lifted my head up and looked at the sky and I saw Jesus holding Brock's hand and leading him. "

We all were speechless. Jesus loves the little children.

12:17

4 years ago today, at 12:17 pm, God blessed us with our 4th son. Brock came into our lives.

So at 12:17, Barrett let go of our first balloon as a family. Then we thanked the Lord for the blessing of Brock's life. In looking back in keepsakes from his birth, I came across a card from our sweet friends, Lee and Beverly Webb. Beverly passed away in October, 2008. She was the first person that we knew and Brock knew that has gone to Heaven since Brock got there. Every night Barrett prays for God to ask her to rock Brock for us.

In the card she sent us to acknowledge his birth, she said, "May God pour out His most special blessings on Brock Browning Meadows and use him to make a beautiful difference in the world!"

Today we celebrate that Beverly's words came true.

Brock, what a difference you made in our lives! Happy Birthday precious!

*** P.S. We have received some of your pictures of your balloon releases. They are sweet. God is using them as a happy on this hard day. ***