My husband Pr. David Gillespie graduating from Avondale college; our son Jaden (born 28 weeks premature) Kasey and I (Patty Gillespie).
Guest post by Patty Gillespie.
It was Wednesday afternoon, the 11th of January 2006, when our son Liam Jonathan was born. What should have been a joyful time for my husband David and I, turned out to be a very traumatic experience. You see, a few months before, David and I thought that it was time for our 2-year-old daughter Kasey to enjoy the company of a little brother or sister. Kasey was the most beautiful child a mother could have asked for, she was such a pleasant baby, did not cry very much, slept all through the night and was already toilet trained. We felt it was the perfect time to bring another child into this world.
As soon as I became pregnant with Liam, it was a joyful time in our household. Our family and extended family were so exited for us, and both David and I began the planning of the baby room, not knowing what gender our baby would be. Somehow we both felt it was going to be another girl, but to our surprise, during the ultrasound we were told to start buying blue!
Five months into the pregnancy I began to feel like something was not right, and yet at the same time I felt that I needed to trust in God more than ever before. I prayed for His guidance and for Him to take control of my life.
Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”.
Two days after feeling that something was not right, the Doctors gave us terrible news. I was told that I had an incompetent cervix. My cervix had opened too soon which gave way to a deadly bacteria that put my life, and Liam’s life in danger. The only way I cold survive this ordeal was to give birth to our extremely premature child (he was only 22 weeks), but at the same time I knew he would not have a chance of surviving as his little body was so underdeveloped. His lungs would not be ready to survive outside of my womb.
On the 11th of January, our healthy little boy Liam was born. He weighed only 740 grams (1.6 lbs) but what a beautiful boy he was. I can honestly say GOD IS GOOD!!! At the same time my heart was broken knowing that our handsome little boy would not live very long. As I held Liam in my arms, watching him gasping for air as his lungs were underdeveloped, I felt my Lord, my heavenly Father, my Savior, whisper to David and I, “I know you’re hurting right now, I know the feeling, but also know I care for you and Liam, and one day you will be reunited again”.
1 Corinthians 15:19-22
19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.
As human beings sometimes it is hard for us to comprehend why things happen, and we definitely do not have all the answers, however, I believe that God does. God understands and God sees our pain.
A year later, after Liam passed away, our second son was born. His name is Jaden, which means, ‘God has heard’, and Yes! God heard our cries and He blessed us.
Mathew 19;26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Patty Gillespie is happily married to Pastor David Gillespie. They have 2 beautiful children, Kasey & Jaden. They minister together at the Eight Mile Plains Seventh-day Adventist church in Brisbane, Australia, where David is the Associate Pastor.
