Our Vision

Back in August, when we found out that our little boy would be born with Trisomy 18 we did not understand at that time why the Lord had allowed this to come our way. Laying in bed one of those first nights Yvette and I decided that despite the pain, disappointment and uncertainty we would not allow the devil to steal the joy that became ours the moment we realized we were expecting our third little miracle. What was meant to tear our family apart has only served to strengthen us and bring us even closer together. What was intended to stifle our walk with the Lord has caused us to rely all the more on His everlasting arm to guide us. We rest in the knowledge that not only did He have this covered, He also has a plan. A plan that did not come into clarity until an early afternoon in December as our little boy adjusted to life here on earth. Although at the time we did not know what the next 56 days would hold, we determined that God would be honored and glorified in all that we did.

We began this blog as a place of information for our family and friends. A place where they and you, our internet family, could come to see how we were doing and to see how to specifically pray for us. Our blog allowed you to step into our lives and walk this journey with us without feeling as though you were intruding. This became an amazing opportunity for others, most of whom are complete strangers, to pray for our family and immediately see the results of that prayer as God miraculously provided for us each and every day. As the Lord guided us to other families on this same road, we too became emotionally invested in their lives as we began to pray for God's presence in their present need. This became a place where we could be vulnerable, putting forth our requests and displaying our weaknesses without fear of embarrassment or retribution. Not long after we began blogging we realized that this, in a very real way, was beginning to heal us, long before the time when we would need it most. Comments on this blog seemed to come when we needed encouragement the most. Like a soothing ointment are the prayers and support that we still receive to this day. From the very beginning your love and kind words have been "healing it forward" in a way, preparing our hearts for this time when we still feel such a loss.

Over the last few years, Yvette and I have felt as though we were being drawn into some sort of life ministry together. God's hand being so evident in our lives that we knew He was preparing us for something, so we kept praying that He would reveal Himself to us and that we would trust His perfect plan. Well, in case you missed it, go back and look carefully at all of the pictures in our blog. Our Heavenly Father is present there; the creator seen in the depths of Tristan's dark brown eyes, the joy on our faces that suppressed our tears and the very breath that sustained our little boy for eight wonderful weeks. As for His plan, that takes me to our vision. Just as Tristan was entrusted to us for a little while, so is the power and wonder of the 56 days that has left us forever changed. We cannot begin to comprehend why God, in His omnipotence, chose to allow us 56 incredible days while our sweet "internet" friends were given a fraction of that time. But let me assure you, we were humbled by the privilege we were given.

We've always been taught; that with great opportunity comes great responsibility, and this weights very heavily on Yvette and I. So we have begun the process of creating a foundation that will encourage new Trisomy 18 families to keep their pregnancies and not terminate as we have all been pressured to do. This foundation will support a new website that will be a safe haven for trisomy moms and dads to come and seek the answers that were not easily found when our family started this journey. We want to provide hope that trisomy babies can survive despite the opinions of expert doctors who call them "incompatible with life" and give God no acknowledgment or place. God is still in the life creating and sustaining business (see our previous posts). There are survivors of full Trisomy 18, some living up to 11 years. When Yvette and I started researching Trisomy 18, the first survivor we came across was Eliot Mooney (see link at right) who lived 99 days. WOW, 99 days is eternity when you are being told not to look forward to even meeting your son this side of Heaven. That gave us our first sense of hope, that if Eliot can make it 99 days maybe our little boy can at least make it to birth. This is the hope that every family facing this situation needs to hold on to. Our prayer is that as they see the time that we were blessed with that, they might be encouraged as well. It isn't how much time we have with our children, the point is that every moment is precious. As a parent of one of these special little babies, it only takes one moment to be completely and utterly changed. Just ask any of our sweet "internet" friends that had only hours with their little boy and girl. We also want the site to be a resource where facts about Trisomy 18 can be accessed to help prepare parents for the birth of a child with special Trisomy 18 needs.

So, please be praying for us as we hoping to have our site up as soon as possible. I know it seems simple enough, but as I type, satan is trying to discourage and derail any effort we make. Please be praying that the Lord will provide the resources needed to have the site built and that the finished product would continue to bring more honor and glory to God in the days to come. Please continue to pray for our family as we still long for the sun to rise as most of our memories were at night. Please pray for Yvette as she is having a hard time knowing what to blog. Hopefully she will be back soon. Please continue to check our blog as I will update as soon as we have the foundation up and a website started.

Trayc