It’s Christopher’s Second Birthday in Heaven

Christopher, my firstborn son, would have been 35 years old today. That is, if he were here with us on Earth.

On his last birthday, he was at work at our church, getting designs ready for that year’s Harvest Crusades events, just as he probably would have been today. There was always an event looming, and he loved to be a part of it all.

He was a brilliant designer, if I must say so myself. I was an advanced doodler, but Christopher was a genuine artist.

On his birthday, we would have gone to dinner as a family, and I can’t help but imagine him looking lovingly at both of his daughters: Stella and little Lucy, who he never met. He and his wife Brittany did name her, but he never saw her, at least on this earth.

She looks so much like him.

And oh, how he loved Stella. He took so many photos of her on his digital camera that they would fill hard drives. She was his little model and he was her doting father.

And he loved his wife Brittany so very much, along with all of his family.

Birthdays are hard when the person you want to celebrate is no longer with you. My son is never far from my thoughts, and I dream of him often. When I awake, my heart aches to see him, watch him laugh, and hear his voice.

After 21 months, I would like to be able to say we are doing much better. In some ways, we are. We laugh, enjoy life, and find a greater passion for serving the Lord than ever before.

Still, there is a lingering sadness that blankets much, if not most, of life. At the same time, though, there are also insights into what really matters . . . and what doesn’t.

We will see him again. Of this, I am confident.

As David said of his son in heaven, “I will go to him one day” (2 Samuel 12:23).

Until that day, Happy Birthday, Christopher David Laurie!