A few days ago, I was unloading flowers from my car after Susannah’s graveside service. On my last trip to the car, I noticed a long, slender, closed lily flower had broken from the stem and was lying on the floor of my car. I picked it up, not sure what to do with it. As I looked at it, a thought crept into my mind that said, “Hmmm, a flower just like Susannah–beautiful, but will never bloom.” I know God had a purpose for Susannah Joy’s life, but little doubts can creep in sometimes. I left the flower in the yard for lack of a better idea.
Saturday, as I was walking through my yard, my gaze was caught by a fully open, beautiful and delicate, lily flower lying in the grass. It was the same one I had discarded only a day before. It had “bloomed.” It was like God showed me again that little Susannah had bloomed. She was here for the perfect amount of time for His purposes.
I wanted to share her slide-show with you. These pictures were scrolling on a screen at the funeral home after people exited the chapel. A little unconventional probably, but we wanted visitors to see her life. Joseph helped prepare it for posting to the blog. You’ll need a Shockwave plug-in to view it. (http://www.adobe.com and look for the “Get AdobeFlashPlayer” icon.)
When you start it, you’ll see controls in the upper right that will allow you to manually advance each picture, or set it to auto-advance. The music you’re hearing is Susannah’s Lullaby written and composed for her by Joseph. It’s played and sung by a number of the Maxwells.
In the pictures, you will see Susannah, myself and Melanie, my parents (my mom holding Susannah and my dad participating in a little prayer service), Melanie’s parents, and Susannah’s tallest uncle. In the prayer service “Elder,” a gentleman in the Maxwell’s Families for Jesus Fellowship, came to the hospital to pray for her.
You will also notice a number of Bradford Pear tree pictures. When we left the hospital without our little Susannah, we noticed that spring had arrived and that the Bradford Pears were in bloom. The Lord provided this little blessing for us as our hearts mourned the loss of Susannah. We will never see another blooming Bradford Pear without remembering our Susannah Joy.
Susannah Joy’s Life in Pictures:
Susannah Joy's Slideshow and Lullaby
Nathan
