Susana

Since last April, we have been praying for a beautiful princess named Susana.

Susana and her family are missionaries in Haiti and last April, Susana was diagnosed with nueroblastoma. She was 4 years old.

We are not related to Susana, in fact we have never met. But I wanted the boys to pray for her. I wanted them to know and love their little sister in Christ. So we prayed for her...

In January, we received the sad update that Susana's health was failing. Her little body was overwhelmed with tumors and her prognosis was terminal. We prayed almost every night for her.

Yesterday, Susana went to heaven to be with Jesus. I believe with all my heart that she is with Him now. Perfect and whole. Susana's 10 month battle with cancer was painful and worshipful. I can send you the link to her parent's ministry if you want to read more about her battle. She fought well. She praised the Lord through it all.

Last night, as we tucked the boys in bed, I shared the news of Susana's passing with my eldest son, who has just turned 3.

All those who knew Susana's story and heard of her passing felt sorrow. I felt like weeping when I heard the news. My heart broke.

The Bear's reaction was quite different when I told him.

The Bear looked at me and then sat up in bed, pumped his little fist in the air and shouted, "THAT IS AWESOME!!!! Susana is with Jesus!! At her Jesus Party!"

A Jesus Party. How great is that?

We talked about heaven and what Susana was seeing in heaven. The Bear wanted to include things he loves like dinosaurs and race cars but we also talked about the beautiful Princess gown she would be wearing, as a beloved daughter of the King.

Her hair is long and beautiful and curly, I said to him.

"Woooow" he responded, "Just like Dora."

I smiled. "Even better than Dora."

"And Mom, Jesus made her a cake. With all color sprinkles"

He began listing all the colors of sprinkles, so that I could say, "Yes. Rainbow sprinkles."

"She will love that!" he said.

"And she can dance, run, sing and ROAR!!" he added.

"She can!!" I affirmed, "Jesus has made her all better. He touched her, called her home and fixed every part of Susana that felt tired and hurt."

The Bear smiled and then roared again.

Early next week I am adding a new rose plant to my garden. This one is for Susana and I want it to be the brightest pink I can find. The boys can help me plant it, and I will remind them whenever we are working in the garden on that particular rose bush, that Susana praised Jesus even when she was hurting. Which is really a tremendous thing when you consider that most adults don't even know how to do that.

I know my boys are extremely young to really grasp the full meaning of Susana's life and death and eternal life. But I also know that this little girl and her story has continued to water the little seed growing inside each of my boys. They saw another child worshipping and loving Jesus. It made them want to know Him better. Susana taught my boys to call on Jesus.

Thank you, sweet darling girl, your courage and love for God taught my boys something powerful and drew them closer to Jesus.