For Baby Matthew

From Wheelbarrow Manor:

Please pray for church friends Cecilia and Calvin and their sweet baby Matthew who will go to to live in Jesus' sweet arms in Heaven today. Their twin babies were born last Monday at 24 weeks. A girl, Sophia and a boy, Matthew. Matthew has suffered a major brain hemorrhage and the decision has been made to remove him from extraordinary life support. My dad sent out this beautiful email and words it better than I can in the midst of my tears and sadness at this time.

It is with a heavy heart that I ask for your prayers this afternoon.

Please pray for the rest of the afternoon, especially around 5:00, for Calvin and Cecilia Colbert as they have made the very difficult decision to remove extraordinary life support from their little boy, Matthew. Through the doctors’ advice and spiritual counseling, they are now able to place Matthew in the hands of the Lord, who is the giver of all life. If God chooses to take Matthew home, which is the almost inevitable outcome, they are now able to accept that as the best thing for Matthew. Theirs is the eternal mixture of sadness and hope.

We pray that Mary, who with great sorrow watched her own son die, will be with Calvin and Cecilia, and we ask the Lord to receive Matthew into His loving arms.

The little girl seems to be doing fine for now but has a tough road ahead and will surely miss her brother.

Cecilia was one of the two coordinators of our nursery program this past year provided such good care to our babies each Sunday. I wish I could do something for her babies at this time but for the moment my prayers are all I can offer.

I ask that anyone who reads this offer a prayer for them as well.

Please keep everyone (family, friends, and really, the whole parish) in your prayers as everyone deals with this loss. Really, a loss like this affects the whole community. So many have lost young ones (as is evident in the Children's Garden) and it is a tragedy every time. But God's will is perfect and He alone knows 'why'. Our job is to pray. Please do.