Thursday, April 5, 2007

Trisomy 18


Meeting
Eliot, Remembering Rebecca, Celebrating Life!

Rebecca and Eliot. These two babies have many things in common: both were precious little babies who were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13); both were tremendously loved by their parents families and friends; both were born to parents who have an unwavering faith and trust in God; both touched the lives of not only their families and friends but many other individuals who came to know them; both were born with a condition called Trisomy 18; both are now in the arms of God the Father. And someday, both will meet us in heaven, as we all come in the presence of the one who created us all.

I was doing my usual blog hopping the other day when I came across a movie clip that reminded me of Rebecca (my best friend Valeria's daughter). That clip is the story of Eliot, titled 99 Balloons. The movie clip is embedded below for you to watch, but before that, please allow me to share some insights learned from this clip.

The documentary of Eliot’s life, and the remembrance of Rebecca brought tears to my eyes. But they were not tears of sadness. They were tears of overwhelming emotion that only a love so high, so deep, so strong, and so graceful can pull. It’s the same kind of tears that I shed when I come to worship God and He blesses me with the awareness of His presence. Watching Eliot and remembering Rebecca brings about a sweet reminder that God makes everything beautiful, in His time.

In both Rebecca and Eliot’s story, an outstanding message resonates. It’s not how long we live on this earth that matters. It’s how much we touch the lives of others that really count. Celebrating life is not dependent on how many days we exist on earth; it depends on what we do with the number of days we were given.

Rebecca lived 13 days, Eliot lived 99 days, but their memories live forever….

So whether we live 9 days, 9 years or 99 years... let us live our lives to the fullest. Afterall, Jesus assured that “He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly”.

In loving memory of Rebecca Grace and Eliot, let us celebrate life today and the days to come.

To know more about Eliot, visit his parents' blog dedicated to him, simply called Eliot. For more info on Trisomy 18, click HERE for the Wikipedia article.

Below is the 99 Balloon movie clip. It's 6 minutes long. I recommend getting a tissue before you watch. The video can also be viewed and downloaded at igniter media group site.

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12 comments:

Wendy said...

WOW!! AMAZING!! You do need this tissues for this one!! What made it even more touching was the father telling the story. Seeing this family with the stroller, the nursery decorated, they were so ready and were waiting for this gift from God. And seeing the trust they put in God to get them through, and celebrating his short life on earth!! AMAZING. Thank you so much for sharing this!

Unknown said...

What an awesome celebration of this little one's life. Definitely a tear jerker. Thank you for sharing this story.

Crystal said...

Wow...what an amazing tribute...what brave parents...an amazing tribute to the gift of life....
Thanks for sharing!
Blessings

Walls Down Church Kids said...

I stumbled onto your blog and had to share...a little girl named Emily Grace touched the hearts of hundreds of people for 19 days last year. Our church is now building a memorial pavilion..in process right now. check out these sites:
http://www.prenatalpartnersforlife.com/Stories/Trisomy18Emmy.htm

http://paulpeterson.wordpress.com/2007/04/09/the-emily-grace-pavilion-update/

God is capable of using anyone...I pray that we see it...

Rena said...

Thank you so much for sharing this--it meant so much to me. God really does care about His little ones even if they can only be with us for a short time.

Heavenbound23 said...

My husband and I provide a foster home for a young lady with trisomy 18. She justed turned 20. With all that I have been finding on the web about this syndrome, I am totally amazed that she is still with us. What a loving person she is. She wants hugs all the time, and always has a smile for us. She has also beat cancer which is not uncommon to have with this syndrome. What a blessing. She is teaching us so much every day.

Anonymous said...

This is my first visit. I'm glad I found you, your story and faith are so very touching.

Anonymous said...

hello my name is marta and i live in Minnesota and have a 6 year old son named kayden who is trisomy 18 i live in brainerd and between where ilive and Minneapolis there are 9 families who have children living with trisomy 18 from age 1 to age 20 that i have found and we are all with in 3 hours of each other. my email is martamcclanahan@hotmail.com i would love to hear from anyone

Anonymous said...

I can't watch. I miscarried a daughter who had a type of trisomy -- her egg was fertilized by two sperm so she had three sets of everything. She could have gone to term, but she couldn't have lived. I was told it was a blessing that I miscarried. It didn't feel that way.

Now I have a daughter to completely fill my arms. God has blessed me, and maybe one day I'll understand. Maybe I'll even meet my lost child(ren).

Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba) said...

I have been on a "Trisomy-18 journey" of sorts.

Since September, I've followed several of these babies. I have a link on my page, too.

Shay said...

What a wonderful story, thank you so much for sharing about these beautiful and amazing babies. Our family just lost our precious Mallory (my niece) to Trisomy 18. I think the families have such amazing strength to get through this. We take comfort in each new day that this is only a temporary time and we'll be with her once again. Thank you again for sharing, it's comforting to know we have others to lean on.
Blessings,
Shay

Anonymous said...

By divine intervention somehow a church service was recorded on my DVR and I watched it. At the end it showed the story of 99 balloons. I was in tears! This family had so much faith in God! If this happened to me would I have as much faith? it made me think for a moment. I just had a baby one year ago I looked at him for along time after this video clip. Am I praising God for all of the wonderful things in my life daily? or am I just going about things day to day... not giving much thought to anything. I was going to go on to school to get my master's degree and then after seeing this I realized I have already spent so much time in school and not enough time in the word or even with my family because all of my time is used up. I have realized after watching this that every day is so precious and I am tired of missing wonderful memories because I am to busy to share in them. Eliot was only here for a short while but, even this precious baby had an impact in my life. He came so that I may learn... learn that celebrating life is not dependent on how many days we exist on earth; it depends on what we do with the number of days we were given.