a long overdue "thank you" note

there are angels among us.

when greg and i first embarked on this journey, we couldn't have forseen the wonderful and thoughtful deeds that would be done for us in our time of need. it has been a true blessing to see how our friends, family, church family, and even those we don't know personally, have lifted us up in every way.

a special thank you:

~ we truly believe that we could not have gotten better medical care anywhere other than with our obstetrician, dr. jennifer esses in sandestin, and with our maternal-fetal specialist, dr. jim thorp in pensacola. both doctors are incredibly gifted in their knowledge and skill, and supported us and cared for us with such kindness and compassion. we are so, so thankful to each of them and to their staff. a special thank-you to dr. esses, who not only was there for us as a physician, but also as a friend, prayer-warrior, and a valuable part of our support system. we appreciate you so much.

~ the hospital where we delivered both kate and jonathan, sacred heart hospital on the emerald coast (sandestin), was also wonderful. our nurses, jessica, crystal, deja, khris, and our social worker, dawn, went above and beyond their duties to help us and care for us in every way, including coming in on their own time and staying late past their shifts. we are so grateful to you for what you did for us before, during, and after jonathan's birth. a sincere thank you.

~thank you to our genetic counselor, beth, who provided us with all of the necessary information on jonathan's condition, who made herself available at anytime to answer our countless questions, and who supported us with the bad news and celebrated with us with the good news.

~a special thank-you to our friends jennifer, michelle, and lisa (and their husbands) who have done so much for us these past few months, including caring for kate, bringing numerous meals, putting together jonathan's "celebration of life", helping with the funeral, and who have been on their knees praying for us since literally "day one". thank you also to our friends, mike b., cathy and ken, and leigh ann, who traveled from different parts of the U.S. (and from another country!) to come support us and be there for us in our time of need. we love you all and are so thankful for your friendship.

~a special thanks to our church pastors and staff, especially pastor carey dean and sr. pastor carey olson and their wives, who loved us, counseled us, prayed for us, and provided for every need that we could possibly have during this time. thank you especially for all of the work that went into jonathan's funeral, including the hosting, officiating, the flowers, the childcare that was provided, the technical assistance, and more. we are so blessed by you. thank you.

~our large group of friends and church family: there are literally a hundred or more people we should be thanking by name, for the amazing acts of service and love that were done for us during our journey. greg and i want to express our deepest gratitude to those who brought us meals, babysat for us, sent cards to us and our families, gave us free medical advice, called us to check on us, and prayed for us, among many other acts of kindness.

~thank you to our wonderful neighbors who made themselves available to us in our time of need, who supported us at jonathan's celebration of life and funeral, who donated to charity in jonathan's name and who sent flowers and spoiled me with a pedicure and massage :) we appreciate you all so much.

~a sincere thank you to lindsey newcomer for taking maternity photos, and to deb haussermann, who took maternity/family photos and also spent several hours with us at the hospital taking pictures of us with jonathan. these pictures are priceless to us, and we will treasure them forever. thank you for donating your time, energy, and talent to our family in this way.

~to our prayer partners, including those who follow our story here on the blog: we could have not made it without you. we have heard of how faithfully you have been praying for us, even though many of you don't even know us personally. we have heard the stories of about how some people felt "an urge" to pray for us at certain times, which we later learn that that specific moment was so significant in our journey. we have learned of people waking up in the middle of the night, burdened to pray for us. these stories are a true testament to how the Lord has used you to lift us up in our time of great need. thank you for asking of the Lord on our behalf to answer our specific prayer requests during this time, especially the prayer that jonathan would be born alive, and for our peace and strength through this time. please know that the Lord has answered these prayers for us, and has blessed us abundantly. i believe that for years to come, greg and i, and perhaps others, will still be talking about the amazing things that the Lord accomplished through jonathan's life and that some of these things are yet to be revealed. thank you also for your encouraging words to us via email and blog comments. they have blessed us greatly!

~we thank all of our family, friends, and even those we don't know personally, for your donations in honor of jonathan to the children's advocacy center and to heart of the bride ministries, and also in jonathan's memory to heart of the bride ministries.

~thank you to thereseann from the "living with trisomy 13" website. because of your site, we were filled with much hope about traveling this T13 journey. thank you for reminding us that we are not alone, and that there is plenty of wonderful support for families like us. we have connected with some truly wonderful families via this site.

~thank you to laura with "string of pearls", whose keepsake box provided us with wonderful memories of jonathan to enjoy for many years to come.

~last but not least, thank you to our families. words cannot express how much your unconditional love and support means to us. thank you for all that you have done for us. we love you so much.

we are so thankful for each of you.

"I thank my God every time I remember you." ~Phillippians 1:3

with love,
lauren and greg