John Elias Carlton

Well, this is our first post on our new blog, so I feel like we should introduce ourselves, even though most of you probably already know us. If so, you may have noticed that we've had heavy hearts lately. In this first post we'd like to explain why our hearts remain heavy, and in future posts we'll explain why our hearts are also hopeful.
This adorable little fella is the reason why we've been sad lately. John Elias Carlton was born on April 23, 2007 in Guatemala, and two weeks later we found out that God was bringing him into our family through adoption. We had been longing to become parents for a few years already, so that was a very happy day. We were blessed to be able to watch him grow up for almost five months--getting handsome and endearing photos like this and physician's updates about every month. On September 16, however, Eli had lunch, took a nap, and woke up in the presence of his Savior in heaven. We were obviously heartbroken when we heard this news the following day, and it still hurts when we think about him, which is often (really all the time). We are grateful beyond words that God brought him into our lives, and we have been greatly comforted to know that he now stands mature in Christ, praising God around His throne. But we miss him. We were looking forward to watching him grow up into a mature man of God. He gives us one more reason to eagerly await the "glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ". So, that is why--even though we may not show it--we are still grieving but slowly healing. We will always cherish our first son Eli, so we wanted to be sure that you knew about him.