DECEMBER 22, 2008

Christian Matthew Beresik was born 12-19-08 in the presence of Jesus. He was delivered 12-20-08 and weighed 3lbs. He went directly from his mothers womb to his Fathers arms. The presence of Jesus has been overwhelming and the love of family tangible and amazing. As we mourned the passing of Christian, we, at the same time, celebrated the arrival of Thomas Grant Wolff. How do you manage to comprehend all of this in such a brief time? Neither child appeared on time and all figured there would be at least a month of time separating their births. Instead, it all got crammed into one emotionally overloaded weekend.

God is good and He reigns. Of that I am certain...all of the rest is hard to understand. Sometimes life is hard - that's not a bad thing- its a hard thing - its when we are challenged in every level of our belief. If we survive, we sense a new depth in our spiritual maturity - a new resolve - and a new compassion and love for others. We will, by God's grace, survive. We give Him our confusion, our pain, our loss, and our hope. He who gave His only Son, can be trusted with the loss of this son.

Thank you, everyone who have stood with us on this journey. We have shared it with you because we love you and you are precious to us. But the journey isn't over, in some ways it has just begun and in some ways we want you to continue to journey with us more now than ever.

Amy and Matt, your faith is a testimony to all who have known or met you. You have fully trusted your Savior and inspired us to the realization that the grace of the living God is so real you can sometimes touch it. You have touched us and I am profoundly moved by your witness and your faith and am the proudest father on earth at this moment. At times you wonder if the faith of your children is real and strong - I have no such wonders.

And Christian? He is alive and well in the presence of the living God. He knows that which we can only long for. He is in a place we will one day go to ourselves. Then we will have an awesome reunion. Given the option, Christian, knowing we will one day go there, probably wouldn't choose to return here. And what about our prayers? They have been answered. Christian is alive perfectly formed in God's house - nothing broken, nothing missing - that is what we asked for wasn't it?

Christian, you now hold the high ground. We are thankful for the brief time you were here. You have done amazing things in our family and among our friends. Thank you for the impact you have already had. You won't return to us little one - we will come to you. But not yet...but not yet.

Tom Wolff (Granddad)