Dear Joy

 

To my Sweet Daughter Joy,

I want to take advantage of the opportunity to write my little girl a letter from her Dad while she is still here on this earth.  I want you to know how grateful I am that you chose to bless me and your mother with the opportunity and privilege of being your earthly parents.  Thank you so much for the love and Joy you have brought into the lives of our family.  You have four older brothers who love you more than anything in the world.  You have a Jaden who constantly thinks about you, takes every opportune moment to sit by you and your mother and wait patiently for your slightest move or hiccup and is burdened by the idea and feelings of grief that your stay with us will not be an extended one.   You have a Jaxon that from the moment he found out about you has cried and has taken every opportunity to tell people about his special little sister.  You have a Jace who from the beginning has prayed for a miracle that you might stay longer with us on this earth than your eternal plan will permit and has loved and thought about you everyday.  You have a Jenston that has enjoyed watching you and moms belly grow and loves putting his side of his face and ear up to you and embrace you with both hands with the knowledge that Joy is in there.  You come into a family of older brothers that from the moment they found out about you have fought, struggled, pleaded, begged, and prayed for a miracle for you.  But with much heart ache and faith our family has come to realize that you coming into our family is in itself a miracle, blessing and privilege that we are gratefully honored and  blessed to have just the way you are. 

Joy you have brought so much love into our lives.  You have increased our awareness of Gods love for each of us.  Because of you we have created friendships and strengthened existing friendships.  We have been shown an outpouring of love from so many people and so much on your behalf that it has brought us to tears and our knees more times than we can count.  Joy you have enriched our lives more than we could ever fully explain or thank you for. 

Joy as we have prepared and planned for you to come we could never of imagined the intensity of the feelings and emotions this last day and night with you has brought.  With you tucked in Mom’s belly, snuggled below her heart, for the past nine months it seems unreal that this is the last night we will lay with you, are arms and hands wrapped around Mom’s belly just waiting for you to start showing off like you do every night.  It is overwhelming to think we finally get to hold you, kiss you, snuggle your cheeks, paint your toenails, enjoy your beauty, and show you off.  It is just difficult to know that it is also the time to let you continue to progress in Gods plan for you.  Gods plan for you is not to spend much time with us hear on this earth and we will mourn your passing but like Joseph Smith said we will not mourn without faith.  We will have long moments of mourning that will seem to never end I’m sure wishing you were still here with us to be held or even tucked away in Moms belly, snuggled below her heart but we will not mourn without faith.  Our faith in Gods plan for the eternal family and your progression in his plan for you to reach exaltation will help soften the blow.  Your gift to us of helping us create friendships and strengthening existing ones and increasing our awareness of Gods love for us will also help.  Joy thank you for leaving us with these precious things to make it easier for us here that you leave behind while you wait for us on the other side.

Joy there is much that we wish we could experience with you here in this life that we look forward to experience with you in the next.  We love you so much and thank you for such a sweet Journey. 

We know that our Journey with you does not end here but it is still hard to end this part of it.  Thank you for obliging a father the privilege and Joy of writing his only daughter a love letter, thank you letter, and good bye letter.  You have given us so much more than we could ever ask for from a daughter.  We love you and we will see you in the morning only a couple hours. 

Love your grateful and loving father,

Justin