It seems a little redundant to say this, but wow, it’s already July. And July brings with it the greatest joy and the bitterest sadness we can feel. Of course, July 10th is Evan’s first birthday. And yes, I say “is” and not “would be.” That’s how it is for us because the spirit of our son lives so strongly within us and within our house. We still take him wherever we go, and I am certain that we always will.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we have been busy organizing care packages for CICU parents. They are starting to come together very nicely! We actually finished up the last of the shopping today, which involved the purchase of snack items for the care packages and also for the NICU waiting room. One of the things that sticks out to us from Evan’s final hospital stay was the generosity shown by families of prior Children’s patients. We ate a wonderful lasagna dinner on Christmas Eve and were treated to snacks in the waiting room throughout the holidays. I told Amy on Christmas Eve that I wanted to participate in that someday, and we could bring Evan along to take drink orders, just like that family’s children did. And even though Evan is not physically with us any longer, there is no doubt that his life and spirit are the driving forces behind what we want to do. And since the holidays are inundated with families trying to give back (and rightfully so, God Bless them), we hope that it will be an unexpected and pleasant surprise for these people in the heat of summer.
Sometimes I think, “what if every family who has ever had a child in ICU for an extended period took one day a year to do this?” Can you imagine it? All those parents whose children are in the hospital at any given time wouldn’t have to worry about meals during their entire stay! Hey, it sounds good anyway. It’s just another thing that we took away from the whole experience: we really shouldn’t ever take holidays at home for granted. So many families, and hospital employees for that matter, spend their Christmases watching children live minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour in the ICU. Little comfort can be found in watching anyone, let alone a young child, suffer. I certainly hope we all will think about that just for a moment as we eat and watch fireworks this July 4th.
At any rate, I’ll quit with the preaching and move on to some other events of our lives. Two Fridays ago (June 22), we went to see “Evan Almighty.” Neither of us was expecting much going in, but we ventured into it for 2 reasons: the title (self-explanatory) and Steve Carrell’s role as the title character. For anyone who may not know the name, he is one of the main characters in “The Office,” one of our all-time favorite TV shows. Both of us enjoyed “Bruce Almighty” but also understood the subject matter to be mostly magic and humor, which is fine. But aside from a couple references, that movie didn’t strike me as being particularly Christian. “Evan Almighty” was very different.
First of all, you wouldn’t even recognize it as a sequel save for the title and the actors involved. It was funny, though not as laugh-out-loud funny as “Bruce.” But what absolutely made the movie for us is that it did drive home some real Christian ideals. At one point, God (played by Morgan Freeman) inconspicuously approaches Evan’s wife as a restaurant waiter after she has taken the kids and left Evan over the ark-building “nonsense.” He relates to her that it would be unlikely for God to simply bestow happiness, love, etc upon people only because they have prayed for it. Rather, he says, God gives people opportunities to fulfill what they have prayed for, then leaves it up to us (to trust Him), the point ultimately being that we must live by faith and not by sight (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). I don’t believe it was referenced in so many words, but it was quite obviously the point. And I believed the entire movie to revolve around that theme, a fundamental one in Christianity. God really does use real people in their real lives to further His kingdom. Case in point, our Evan. I hope that many of you will find the time to see the movie, regardless of what the critics say. They are obviously catering to the idea that most Americans don’t want a Christian-themed movie. But from responses I’ve seen online from many “regular folk” who have seen the movie, the critics are dead wrong.
OK, so I’m still being preachy. But I promise that’s it for now, mostly I think because this is long enough. Thank you all for the support you have shown us in preparation for Evan’s birthday. Thanks especially to Sandy, Jill & Dennis, Heeter & Howie, Cathy & Rob, and all of our wonderful parents (including Jody and Don) and brothers for helping to make what we’re doing possible. God Bless, and have a wonderful Independence Day celebration.
Greg
