April 1, 2016 Daniel went home to be with the Lord at 7:45 am.
The morning he died, I was not there. The doctors had sent me home to sleep. Their hope was that Daniel would begin to wake up and then they had told me I would be needed 24/7. I have written these details in another blogpost, some of them are in more than one.
The morning he died I heard the words to the "Steeple Outro" by Crowder play through my mind. It ends with "I knew I found my home" and when I heard that last phrase, I knew Daniel had died. I then went on my front porch and lifted my hands to heaven and sang the next song on that album, "All This Glory".
Several weeks after he had died, we learned that the people Brent worked with had purchased a memorial tree for Daniel. They chose the park by our home, but had no control over where in the park the tree would be planted. One morning that summer, Brent and I were sitting on our back porch and saw a city truck pull up with a tree in the back. The truck parked right in front of our house and we could see the new tree just over our fence. We both wondered aloud if this could be Daniel's tree. It was. The park across the street from our home is 117 acres. Daniel's tree could have been planted anywhere inside that park. The Lord had it planted across the street from our house, centered with our street and "just on the other side" of the fence. I wrote about the significance of some of these things in another blogpost when I ran my marathon.
Every April 1st, Brent and I go out on my front porch and listen to the "Steeple Outro" at 7:45am followed by "All This Glory". I also always take a picture of Daniel's Tree. It was not until Daniel's birthday this year that I learned something even more significant about Daniel's Tree. You see, on January 6th this year, I decided to go and take a photo of his tree that morning as there was a beautiful sunrise. This was the first time I noticed the placement of the sun, it was significantly to the right of his tree. Makes sense, in winter months the sun has a different placement.
After realizing this, I begin to marvel in an even more profound way at the details God has put into the gift and placement of Daniel's Tree. A verse of "All This Glory" reads:
April 1, 2021
April 1, 2020
April 1, 2019
My phone only goes back to photos from 2019. I will try to find the 2018 and 2017 and add them here as well. Daniel's Tree reminds me every day of God's love and faithfulness, but especially so on April 1st. He sees. He knows. He cares. His grace has been sufficient and I trust will continue to be. My heart is broken. I am sad. I miss him every day. I also have hope. I also trust the Lord. I love the Lord. I am thankful for his never ceasing kindness to my broken heart. One day, my faith will become sight. Until then, I am going to keep trusting him.
Even in the darkness, His light breaks through.
I love you, Daniel! I look forward to the day I will see you again.
Thank you Lord for the gift of Daniel's life. Thank you for grace. Thank you for hope. Thank you for being Light in the darkness. Thank you for your peace, a peace that surpassing all understanding and guards my heart and mind. Please continue to be my help, my families help, our strength, our hope, our peace. In Jesus name, Amen.
