Eternity

I met this amazing family through school. Their daughter is in my kindergarten class. I love everything about them! Their testimony is incredible. They have inspired me in countless ways. Here is a small part of their story. (I use this with permission) In Nikki Hardings words:

The morning of the viewing Kaj and I woke up early to get ourselves ready to head to the mortuary. I felt like I hadn’t made a decision about “dressing Tui”, up until the very last minute. My emotions were all over the place and the Trauma from the day of the accident was still controlling my every thought. Following the council of Kaj I/we decided to have Tui dressed and ready for us by the time we got the the mortuary. I think we both felt like that was the best decision for us at the time. Even though our dear friend and mortician did a wonderful job with Tui, there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in this world that could’ve prepared us for the scene we were about to walk into. My hands were shaking and I was physically exhausted from the previous days, my mind was confused at what i was doing “here”, and my heart was ACHING. I still hadn’t accepted the reality that Tui was gone, and that our lives would never be the same.

Walking into the room that was set up for us was heart wrenching! All i could do was look at him from afar for a few minutes.. I was silent but my head and heart were screaming, THAT ISN’T MY SON and THIS ISN’T REAL! He didn’t look like my Tui! His spirit was gone, which meant Tui was gone. That body had looked like nothing more than a broken machine to me. Where was my sweet cuddly little boy, and why couldn’t i see him in that room? As I inched forward and took in the image that I was seeing I sobbed, and then as I held him and I sobbed even more! There was nothing about that meeting that I wanted to experience or take in, I actually wanted to run as fast and as far away as I could. My mind had started playing tricks on me and in that moment I wasn’t sure about anything! I questioned if what I thought I knew to be true was really truth, and whether or not I would ever see my sweet baby boy again. Without saying a single word my sweet husband brought me back to what I already KNEW! With a tenderness that I’ve never felt before he gently put mine and Tuis hands in his, and in that moment the image of our family being sealed together a few years earlier flooded my memory. What a blessing it was to have had Tui long enough for our family to be sealed!! Of course I will see him again because my family is ETERNAL, we are bound to one another for time and ALL ETERNITY, and nothing absolutely nothing can break that bond, not even death! My husbands tender touch carried me through that morning, bringing me the peace and comfort that only he could give, in a way that I knew it was coming not only from him but from a Heavenly Father that knew my struggles and heartache in that exact moment.