Wink from Heaven: A Wink at the Beach

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

A Wink at the Beach

I love the beach! It's hard to tell where the water ends and heaven begins... Thank you for bringing a wink to beach Jeff!

(Our favorite doctor from Alpine Pediatrics)

4 comments:

shirlgirl said...: Beautiful! Wonderful friend, too.; August 30, 2012 at 12:52 PM
Brad and Amy said...: Love the new Blog design!! I'm also enjoying the winks from around the world! They are precious!; September 1, 2012 at 8:04 PM
Misty said...: Today would have been our daughter's seventh birthday. She passed away four years ago, and we decided to do some good deeds on her birthday this year.

One of the things all of my children wanted to do was send a wink to your family from the Tetons, so we did! We even took a picture we would like to send to you. Your story has inspired all of us to be better. Thank you so much!; October 2, 2012 at 11:55 PM
April said...: Oh Misty you truly touched my heart....thank you...my e mail is aprilmoody1@gmail.com... sending all my love and a little wink!; October 3, 2012 at 9:43 PM

Prayer for Caleb

(written by Caleb's Grandma in her weekly column -2008-)

In my family we have a secret code to communicate our love for each other when we are out in public. We wink. When one of us is about to perform or speak, we look for a family member’s face in the crowd. Then we wink at each other. Closing one eye and winking is our secret code for saying, “I love you. You can do it. You’re wonderful.”

About three years ago, my grandson Caleb was born into our family. He must have known before birth that he would never be able to speak to us because he was born with one eyelid permanently closed. So, he is always “winking” at us, always communicating, “I love you. You can do it. You’re wonderful.”

Caleb has one eye lid permanently closed because he is missing one of his eyes . . . and he is also missing his brain. All the doctors said he would die soon after birth. They were wrong. Caleb is three years old. He is a medical miracle. The doctors say he can’t see, hear, speak, think or move. Those who know and love Caleb understand he has his own unique way of experiencing the world and communicating his love to those around him.

After Caleb was born the hospice people told us to buy a burial plot and continually warned us of his imminent death. We soon learned you can not live well in a state of fear and sadness. We decided we could spend Caleb’s entire life anxious and scared he might die at any moment, or we could celebrate each day we were blessed to have him with us. In the beginning, my daughter April celebrated Caleb’s birthday every week instead of every year with balloons and cupcakes because we simply did not know how long we would have him with us. We stopped the cupcakes after we gained ten pounds, but the celebrating goes on.

We all prayed for a miracle when we first learned about Caleb’s condition. We got one. Caleb’s birth, life and mission have had a deep and lasting impact on our lives. His spirit, eternal identity and most of all the loving, individual relationship he has with each of us is truly a miracle. Because of Caleb we know that each of us has a divine purpose and that the physical body is a sacred gift we should never take for granted. We better understand the worth of a soul and the resiliency of the human spirit.

Caleb’s five year old brother Matthew said, “Grandma. The doctors said Caleb was going to die, but he didn’t. That’s the first miracle I ever saw!”

Sometimes Caleb’s baby brother Mitchell pulls out his feeding tube while they hold hands riding together in their double stroller. Sometimes the only intervention that can get Caleb’s heart rate up is when his older brothers Josh and Matty crawl in his crib, hug him and sing, “I am a Child of God.” ...If you have a moment please offer a prayer for the little boy who has never been able to utter a single word and yet has taught everyone who knows and loves him – all the secrets of a rich and meaningful life.