At the beginning of April I
participated in Rachel's Coffee Date Link-up. It has been such a privilege
to get to know Rachel through the blogging world. I love that we can read about
what is on each other’s hearts and become kindred spirits even if we are not in
the same state. That is what blogging is all about. Connecting with others and
encouraging one another! It brings my heart so much joy!
Today for our coffee date I
am going to share with you about something that happened this week. I heard on
Tuesday that a girl I knew from college, Caitlin, that her husband Cole was
really sick and they didn't know if he was going to make it. I was completely
shocked and immediately started looking for more information online.
A few weeks ago Cole was a healthy 24-year-old teacher,
coach, and husband. Cole became very sick with what felt like the flu,
after about 10 days of being sick and not getting better he went in to the
Hospital. There the doctors were stumped as Cole’s illness continued to get
worse. He was rushed by ambulance to St. Luke’s Hospital where doctors began
running all sorts of tests. Cole’s condition continued to worsen as his body couldn’t
seem to fight off what was dragging him down. He was moved to the St. Luke’s
Intensive Care Unit. After a few days and several rounds of dialysis Cole began
to experience seizures and was flown by airlift to Omaha shortly after. It was
here where several specialists were waiting to start running tests to figure
out what was causing all of this to happen. Cole was experiencing extreme
swelling of his brain at this point.The professionals decided to keep him
sedated and place him on a slow drip of dialysis to prevent further damage his
kidney. This had been slowly working but the toxin levels in his body continued
to bounce up and down. The medical professionals determined that Cole has
a very rare disease called Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency. Feel free to
Google. This is so rare that it is only the 2nd case Omaha has ever seen and
Cole is the oldest case in the history of this disease. Cole is far enough into
the illness that doctors are calling for at least 7 doses of a medication that
is supposed to help with this rare disease. This medication is so rare that it
has to be flown in from all areas of the U.S. and the cost is ridiculously
expensive.
On Wednesday night Cole passed away. It was so quick and so
shocking. Only a few weeks ago he was doing his job, coaching kids, helping
with his church and furiously loving his wife.
He and his wife Caitlin had been married 10 months...ugh.
Only 10 months. Only two months less than Jordan and I have been married. And
now Caitlin is a widow. I cannot even describe how much my heart breaks for
that sweet girl. She is only 24 years old and has lost her husband. They didn't
even make it to their 1st Anniversary. It is in circumstances like these that I
often ask God, "why?" Why would such a horrible thing happen to such
a beautiful couple? It just doesn't seem fair.
Now I know that God is good and He is always in control. This
situation has not made me question my faith at all but it has made me stop and
think about what I would do in Caitlin's situation. How would I react or even
survive if Jordan were to die tomorrow? It is painful for me to even think
about that happening but in reality I can't guarantee that he won't.
I apologize because I know this is morbid but as I was
thinking about this I realized how much of my worth, security and life I put in
my husband. I depend on him for just about everything and we share everything
with each other. Now sharing things and depending on your spouse is not bad but
are they all you have? If we put all of our worth and faith and security in
our spouse we will be disappointed and we will also be in risk of complete and
utter heartbreak. The more I thought about it the more I realized how I needed
to put ALL of my trust in GOD and not Jordan. I need to put my security and my
faith in Him first and then in my husband.
The beauty of the situation with Cole and Caitlin is that
they are both believers. They both had Jesus in their life and they trusting in
His will. That means that Cole is dancing in heaven right now and Caitlin can
depend on a God that will NEVER let her down or stop loving her. Now I am
not naive in thinking this is going to be easy for her or it is going to
happen instantly. I have also never lost someone so close to me so I do not know
that pain she must be feeling but I DO know that she can trust and rely on
Jesus.
God has a plan for Caitlin and even though it is very
beautiful even though it is hard right now. As I think about our anniversary
coming in the next couple of days I am so thankful for the year I have had with
Jordan and I wouldn't trade that for anything in this world. This entire
situation has also made me realize that I need to appreciate TODAY. I need to
appreciate and love the little things in my life. Here are some of the little
things that I have been thinking about this week.
Waking up next to my best friend every day
Getting to ride to work together
My husband tickling me
Watching TV shows together and laughing at the same
things
Drinking coffee together at breakfast
Dancing in the living room
Beating each other at Sequence
Deep and meaningful discussions about God
Fellowship with friends from church
Seeing his precious family
Seeing my mom on Mothers Day
Going on a date tonight
Now I know this post is a little scatterbrained and I am
sorry if I am all over the place today but thank you for reading anyway. If you
would please pray for my friend Caitlin this week, it is going to be a hard
one. I would encourage you to think about your relationship with Jesus this
week and ask yourself if you are putting all of your trust in Him? I know I
need to work on that.
Thanks for following along guys! Thank you Rachel for hosting this awesome
link-up!
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