Each of our children is a special blessing from God and has a unique purpose. We believe God gave us our second oldest son partially to brighten our lives during this trial with Charlotte and Sophie This child knows how to make us laugh heartily until tears pour from our eyes. He always senses when you need a hug and a smile, and he gives the best and funniest compliments. There are no strangers in his life, and he loves everyone equally. He is a loud, messy, and oh-so-happy child.

God has given him the gift of compassion; he notices when we are emotionally and physically spent. One day he was sitting on the couch quietly watching me struggle to encourage Charlotte to eat. “Mommy, why are you sad today?”, his sweet voice rang out. I looked into his bright eyes and answered, “Because Charlotte is very sick.” A big smile broke across his face, “Well, if she is very sick, she just needs to touch Jesus! Jesus will make her better!” And with that, he bounced out of the room.

His words echoed in my ears. “She just needs to touch Jesus.” Even as a toddler, this child knows and believes that Charlotte can be healed by the touch of Jesus. His faith was a rebuke to my troubled heart.

God speaks in Matthew 18 that we are to humble ourselves as little children so we may enter the kingdom of Heaven. Furthermore, God says they that humble themselves as children shall be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. We should all possess simple faith in God as a child believes in God. It isn’t overcomplicated; forthright belief in God fills the heart with youthful joy. The pure innocence demonstrates how our faith in God should be: untainted by sin, unwavering in strength, and overflowing with childlike exuberance.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. We have faith that God can reach out and touch our daughters healing them instantly here on Earth, but we also have faith He will perform a Heavenly healing if that is His will. We have faith God is still in control of all things and that He always knows what is best. We choose to walk by faith and not by sight. We have faith that God is always only good.

-Bethany