Ashley and I come to you this morning asking for your prayers, support, examples, and accountability as we raise Gabrielle Elisabeth to be the Godly Woman God has designed her to be.
God has blessed us with the privilege and responsibility to raise Gabrielle, a responsibility we accepted years before Gabrielle was born without fully knowing how great a responsibility it is. During the years leading up to Gabrielle's birth God began teaching us how to Lean on Him, Depend on Him, and Surrender everything to Him.
After the loss of our first pregnancy we began to learn how to Lean on God for His comfort, healing, support, and guidance. If it were not for the prayers, support, examples, and accountability of our family we may not of begun to learn how to Lean on God in our time of sorrow and pain.
Over the next few years of trying for another pregnancy we began to learn how to Depend on God for His direction and timing for our family. If it were not for the prayers, support, examples, and accountability of our family and friends we may not of begun to learn how to Depend on God for everything in our lives.
After visiting a "specialist" and having test run we began to learn how to Surrender everything to God. Based on the results of one test, which was run on both Ashley and I, the "specialist" recommended that we basically take the control completely out of God's hands and place it into hers. If it were not for the prayers, support, examples, and accountability of our family and friends we may not have begun to learn how to Surrender everything to God.
Gabrielle is here today with her "65 Roses" Bouquet as a reminder to Ashley and Me of the lessons which God has taught us in the years leading up to now and the many more lessons He is going to be teaching us through the prayers, support, examples, and accountability of our family and friends.
The "65 Roses" Bouquet which Gabrielle is holding is a representation for Cystic Fibroses, the Genetic Disease which she has. "65 Rose" is what some children with Cystic Fibrosis call their disease because the words are much easier for them to pronounce. But, making it easier to say does not make CF any easier to live with. With the rose being the ancient symbol of love, the "65 Roses" has become a trademark symbol for Cystic Fibroses.
CF is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States, and about 70,000 worldwide. Ashley and I are seeing how God begun working with us even before we found out we were both carriers of CF, in that He has given the doctors and researchers the knowledge to develop treatments and drugs which have taken the life expectancy of CF patients from not expecting to attend elementary school to living full lives beyond their 40s.
God has also given the doctors and researchers the ability to develop treatments and drugs that allow CF patients to live full lives which are non-distiguishable from those without CF. While we will always have treatments to do, medications to take, and a few extra doctor and hospital visits to go to, Gabrielle will live an unrestricted full life just like non CF kids.
God has begun teaching us how to Lean on Him, Depend on Him, and Surrender everything to Him and we desire to continue learn more about God through His precious little Woman Gabrielle Elisabeth.
Again, Ashley and I come to you this morning asking you, our family and church family, for your prayers, support, examples, and accountability as we raise Gabrielle Elisabeth to be the Godly Woman God has designed her to be.
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I never took the opportunity to tell the two of you how very precious Gabrielle's dedication service was. Thank you so very much for allowing each of us the opportunity to love on your sweet girl. You all are in our prayers and we look forward, right along with you, to see the great plans that God has for Gabrielle.
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