Thankful

  Of course it is a very sad and terrible thing to have lost our son. But we have hope and joy in Jesus still. And not only that, we have much to be thankful for as well concerning his death. It is a sad fact, but many, many children die everyday all over the world. And many of these families do not have  God in their lives to deal with the pain and grief as we do. And in many situations  the circumstances that surround their death is so very sad and heart wrenching.

  Hundreds of children are dying of starvation and incurable diseases in many areas of the world on a daily basis. Could you, as a parent, imagine watching your child suffer and die like that? And then there is the children dying that have been neglected, abused, and unloved. Those children didn't just die peacefully, but in sorrow and agony, and unwanted. Or the children that are from good loving homes but have been kidnaped and killed or have gotten lost in the woods and died that way. How very hard that would be on the parents ( I can not even imagine the grief and pain from that ), and for the children in their last hours before death. And then there is children that is not dying, but living in horrible circumstances day in and day out, living with abuse and neglect, living with parents who are al addicted to drugs and alcohol.

 We have so much to be thankful concerning our son's life and death.
 Our son, Clayton, was in a good godly home. He was loved by his parents and siblings. He was not neglected or abused.
 He was well taken care of and well fed. He had all he needed, and most of what he wanted.
  He was happy. He loved life. He enjoyed playing with his siblings, and helping around the house and farm.
 He was well and healthy. He knew and loved God.
   He died doing what he enjoyed, out for a drive on the quad. The autopsy showed his death, which was from a broken neck, was quite quick with little to no trauma. So we can be comforted by the fact that he died with almost no suffering, and that he was not calling out to us and waiting for help.  Not all parents have that assurance concerning their children's death. 
 So we have been so blessed and are so very thankful on many levels concerning our son, both in life and death. When you think of these different things, I just can not thank the Lord enough.
   Sure I miss him like crazy and wish so much here was still here, but I know it could have been a lot worse. We didn't have to see him suffer, in fact he didn't even suffer hardly at all that we know of), and he was not sick or ill, he just was here one moment and gone the next. We had good all memories right up to his death.  For that I will be ever grateful.
    Praise be to God!
  In Him, Mae