God's Grace is More than Sufficient

It has amazed me again and again in the last four days how God moves in His children. To allow us to rejoice in the midst of this suffering has baffled many, but the power of God's love has sustained us and caused us to only love Him more and trust his hand more. To be able to walk into the hospital room and see my sons dead body and praise God; to be able to wake up the next morning and still rejoice that my son was in heaven; to quietly and peacefully, and with clarity, decide with Rob how to best honor God's plan for Trent's life at the funeral; to then go sit and discuss with the funeral director how we wanted the celebration planned; to be used as a testimony to what God's word says and proclaim His perfect plan in this and still be smiling. Then this morning as God gave me the words to write my son's obituary and articles for the papers has only caused me to believe all over again that God's grace is sufficient in all things. Praise the Lord! Feel free to share our message where you would like. From all of this we long to have the gospel spread, and the question asked "What if it had been you? Where would you be?" We know where our son is, and are rejoicing in God for it. Please pray intensely for us as we celebrate what God has done with Trent's life on Thursday, February 25, 2011, from the hours of 2:00-11:00 as many will hear the gospel for the first time and will have to see death first hand and the finality of it all. Please continue to keep our family upheld in prayer as well, as it is only by God's grace that we are able to rejoice in all of His good works and long to be used by Him in this.

Our son, Trent, was born on March 10, 1998. God granted us 12 years with this precious boy before He chose to bring him home to heaven through a skiing accident on February 18, 2011.

Trent was a child that lived his life fully, with somewhat reckless abandon. He found great joy in hunting, fishing, building, playing football and sliding down mud hills. But overall his joy was found in his King and Savior, Jesus Christ, of whom he would confidently proclaim. Trent will be remembered with many tears of joy for his life lived by his parents Rob and Terri, siblings Alexis, Cole, Grace and Micah, his grandparents Janice, and Duane and Nancy, many aunts, uncles, pancake eating cousins, and friends. He is preceded in death by his grandfather, Donald.

It is with great rejoicing that we release our son, Trent, age 12, to our Heavenly Father. Dance before your King my son.

The article for the paper:

Everybody dies, but not everybody lives.

On Friday February 18, 2011, God did the unthinkable in our life~ He chose to take our 12 year old son, Trent, home in a skiing accident. It is only considered the unthinkable because our plans are not Gods plans, and our ways are not Gods ways. Before Trent was born we have entrusted the Lord with his life and have asked Him above all else to bring salvation to our son, to use him in a mighty way for God's glory, and to let him dwell in heaven for eternity. God only answered our prayers last Friday in a mightier way than we could have imagined, and we have been rejoicing in His good works and His mercies ever since.

Trent was a boy who truelly lived. From the very beginning he did what he loved and enjoyed the gifts and skills that God gave him to the full. In his short life he saw much of this world, traveling as far as India, the Bahamas, and Missouri to his favorite destination of Bass Pro Shop for his golden birthday, as well as many camping trips. God instilled a love of hunting and fishing into Trent and a joy of the great outdoors. Since he was little all he wanted was to turn 12 to be able to go hunting. During his 12th year God allowed him to shoot 2 deer. Trent loved to cook, to pick on his siblings Alexis, Cole, Grace and Micah, to protect his mother, to snuggle with his father, to be with his friends, especially his best friends Thomas and Samuel. Everything he was interested in he tried, even carving his own long bow and succeeding in taxidermy. In his short years he truelly lived.

But as we are all destined to, Trent also died. On Friday February 18, 2011, we said goodbye to our son as he left for a skiing trip with his friends. God says he knows the number of our days, that He has created each one, and that He will do what He pleases. Trent struggled with his own sinfulness before God for most of his life. He knew that he was not right before God, and nothing he could do would ever make up for the sins he committed to make him worthy to enter heaven. In the summer of 2010 God graciously chose to bring salvation to Trent through repentence and the saving grace of Christ Jesus. Trent's life was transformed and we enjoyed the young fruit in his life as we watched God work.

It was with great peace and much rejoicing that we as his family have sent him off before us and accepted Gods perfect plan for Trent's life. Our longing is that God would be glorified in what He has done to wake up many to the realization that we are not guaranteed any number of years in this world. On Friday morning we had our son, on Friday afternoon he was gone. God's standards to enter his kingdom are high, He expects perfection. Trent was not perfect, not even close. God graciously provided His perfect son, Jesus Christ, as an atonement for our sinfulness and requires that we simply believe and acknowledge Him for it. God does the rest.

What we have asked nearly every person we have seen since Friday is "What if it had been you? Where would you be right now?" We diligently raised Trent up to know his sinful state and taught him what the word of God says because we know the implications of denying Christ now, and God was gracious to answer our prayers and to save Him. Scripture says that the gospel will go forth with much sorrow and heartache. Please let Trent's short life be a wake up call to you. We are rejoicing in the sorrow because we know where our son is and that we will one day be with him again for eternity because of our own salvation.

God's mercies are new everyday, and His peace does surpass all understanding. God has been so gracious to us in these few days by blessing us first of all with His peace. The family and friends that have surrounded us and have lifted us up in prayer are amazing and another testimony to God's goodness. It is with great rejoicing that we release our son, Trent, age 12, to our Heavenly Father. Dance before your King my son.