This one's for you

I know that the majority of you who have been reading our blog this month have felt heart ache for our family over the loss of my two perfect nephews, Jake and Ben. We thank you for your love and prayers. Life is sad and tough and quite simply sucks at times. But that isn't the end of the story. For those of us who have faith in a loving God there is hope, love and joy.
Jake and Ben have opened my eyes to my life's roadmap, the Bible. Before now, I viewed the Bible as a book of history and since I don't really like history (sorry Doug) I didn't read it. However, when the going got tough I turned to scripture and wouldn't you know it...there are some really inspirational one liners in there.

Below is an email from Jay and Jen. This is a real testimony of what God can do in your heart if you're open to his love.
******************
Jen and I send this email out to you broken hearted. God is good and we know that he has a plan for us though we know not what it is and can't understand it now. Our motto is still Day by Day, Lord Thank You For Today.

After all the fighting that we had in us, Benjamin Lane Savage went to be with his brother Jacob William Savage and heavenly Father on Wednesday January 20th at 2:55am. Both of our boys were born into this world too early without a fighting chance to live here on earth with us. We fought so hard for them but it was not meant to be. Jake and Ben were PERFECT in every way. We have prayed so hard as so many of you did to God that our will be His will. We know that our prayers were heard but that His plan is alot bigger than ours.

We wanted to thank all of you for the emails, cards, flowers, prayers, and food. We would read the emails and cards out loud to give us strength. So many of you sent us words of encouragement and scriptures that we could lean on that helped us make it through each day with HOPE for the next. We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You helped us make it through.

Jen and I had so many dreams of what our lives were going to be like with the buddies. We dreamed of little league, with Jen cheering from the stands and I coaching from the dugout. We dreamed of them water skiing for their first time. I dreamed of them catching their first bass and killing their first deer. I dreamed they would be linebackers and play for the Tide. We did get to watch the entire season and the national championship with them. Our ultimate dream for Jake and Ben is that they would grow up knowing and loving God and that they would spend eternity in heaven with Him. Our ultimate dream has come true!

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Cor 13:13

It has been an amazing journey over these past 3 weeks the amount of love that Jake and Ben have inspired in us. Our love for God has grown to heights unseen in our lives before. I had always thought that we would grow closer to Him when we got more active in church activities, small groups and bible studies. That was not His plan. He knew that this is how we would grow closer to Him. Our love for each other has grown by leaps and bounds. I have seen the kind of mother she is by the sacrifices that she made to try and do everything in her power, so unselfishly, to try and save her boys. She was willing to take it to a point where her life was in danger so that they could live. Her body was physically frail and beaten by the weeks of bedrest. She never got out of bed once and never complained, and her mindset was that she would do whatever she could to save the buddies. Our love for our families has grown so much as they took it upon themselves to try and make our lives as comfortable as possible given our circumstances. We had hot meals cooked every night. The love our families have for each other has also grown. The staff at UAB showed so much love to us as we had nurses witness to us when we needed it, make us laugh at down times, and give us encouragement and hope when we needed it most. God has put all these people in our lives at just the right time. Our sweet nurse Debbie, who helped Jen deliver our sweet boys, came to visit us the night after they were born and gave Jen a necklace with an angel and the words "If we ever wish to know angels for what they truly are...perhaps it is we who must first learn to fly".

I pray now that you would ask God to be with Jen to heal her body and give her strength for a quick physical recovery. I pray that you would ask Him to be with the both of us and to heal our hearts as we learn to fly. I pray that Jake and Ben will watch over us always and comfort us in our times of need. We are so thankful that He sent His Son to die the ultimate death so that Jake and Ben can spend eternity in heaven safely in His arms forever, never knowing the burden of sin or evil deeds.

Jake and Ben, You will be in our hearts always and forever! We love you so much!
****************