Memorial Service for Baby Jace

Psalm 16:8-11 (ESV)

“I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

This is the word of the Lord, and all His people say, “Amen.”

Our precious baby Jace will be buried on Tuesday at Memorial Oakes Cemetery. If the Lord leads and your time permits, Lauren and Dan would like to invite you to a Memorial Service Tuesday at 3:00 PM celebrating little Jace’s short life. The service will be held at the Cemetery in their chapel. The address is 13001 Katy Frwy, Houston, 77079; the entrance is on the south side of the freeway between Eldridge and Dairy Ashford. Following the service and some time to greet you, Lauren and Dan have requested a very private graveside burial with just the two of them. Lauren would love to have colorful flowers decorate the chapel, but several have also asked if they could send gifts to a meaningful charity fund in Jace’s memory. They actually have several in mind, and I will get back with you with this information.

Thank you so much for your gentle phone calls, messages, and emails. We are weary, saddened, yet at peace. Please continue to pray for strength, focus, and wisdom, as well as rest for Lauren and Dan especially, but for the family, too. This day has been long.

God is Good. We know it, we believe it, we are blessed by it. In her immediate brokenness holding her lifeless, precious son, Lauren suddenly realized that God had just done what they had been praying: Jace is whole and healed now. Tremendous peace in the midst of tremendous sadness stole over her. God is Good.

In His Goodness,

Kathy

Sweet Baby Jace

June 14, 2008

Jeremiah 29:11: “’For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord. ‘Plans for good and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.’”

Our precious little warrior, Jace Garrett Steinhaus, passed away at 1:45 AM this morning. By the Lord’s good providence, he was in Lauren’s arms and took one last sweet look into his dear mother’s face before his little heart gave out. We can not express how grateful we are to have had this lengthy time with him, much, much longer than any of us expected. Little Jace was 12 weeks old on Thursday and had been home with his parents for 7 weeks yesterday. Madelyn and I had the privilege of holding him just yesterday afternoon. We have no regrets and are so grateful to our Lord to have had this time with our little man. He will most likely be buried at Memorial Oakes on I10, but I have no further information at this time.

Please be in prayer for Lauren and Danny and the rest of our family. We miss little Jace so much already. We are grieving but not despairing. Just last week, Lauren said that she knew her sweet baby boy would be whole and well in heaven and was so thankful for that knowledge. Our hearts are breaking, but we are at peace. God knew that little Jace needed very, very special parents, and He gave our little one to Lauren and Dan. What a privilege to be entrusted with so much.

Leaning on the Lord’s grace,

Kathy

Prayer for Little Jace

Prayer Warriors,

Little Jace experienced some vomiting and strange bowel issues the end of last week and over the weekend. Although it appears those issues have resolved, and he is able to eat more efficiently, we were disheartened at the nutritionist’s today to learn that he is malnourished despite Lauren and Dan’s valiant efforts to feed him around the clock. They will try him on a different formula with a more high-calorie mix and a continuous feed pump for the next several days in order to stabilize the weight loss he experienced from his recent bout of vomiting, and hopefully, it will also help him gain some weight. He has grown in length, but only weighed 4 pounds. PLEASE pray that when they return on Monday, he will have gained a few ounces indicating a positive trend to his feeding. He still seems alert and is much happier now that his bowel and gastric issues have diminished. At 6:30 PM, the pump had not yet arrived at their apartment, but Lauren said that for today’s manual feedings, he was able to take much more than normal and spit up very, very little. We are very grateful for this change! He was a happy boy during the 11:00 feed that I helped administer, hungrily smacking his lips and cooing at his stuffed animals as the food went into his g-button. He was fun to watch! Please pray that his malnourishment and de-hydration will have no lasting effects. Please pray for strength for Lauren and Dan as they continue to be their son’s advocate. One alternative suggested by the doctor was to hospitalize him for a few days to adjust feedings, an alternative we desperately hope to avoid.

Despite this set-back, I can’t begin to tell you of graces offered in the midst of this new trial. Please know that daily, we learn a little better how to walk in faith even in the fog. Second sight is really just seeing the world from a heavenly perspective, not an easy task, but a hope-filled one. A task about which I have more to learn!

We thank you so very much for you continued care.

God’s grace and blessings on each of you,

Kathy for the Harts and Steinhauses