Truett's First Birthday

It's hard to believe that it has been a year since Truett was born. I'm sure many of you reading this are saying the same thing. Truett is, and always will be, a part of our lives. We do our best to adjust to him not being here. Anniston constantly talks about her "brudder." Sometimes it brings joy to our hearts to hear her speak about him. Other times our hearts crumble. Even though we miss our son dearly we can look back on our time and emphatically proclaim, only God. Only God gave our son, whom we almost terminated, 85 hours and 3 minutes to live. Only God could have surrounded us with friends who bent over backwards to walk alongside us. Only God could orchestrate the relationships that were built because of Truett. Only God could give us a genuine peace that really does transcend anything we can understand. Only God!

When we were planning Truett's funeral we chose some songs to be sung at the funeral and also created a playlist for the viewing. We selected about 14 songs for the playlist. They are all very special to Kristen and I, as well as Anniston. The songs were put on a CD for us. When we would listen to those songs in the car Anniston would scream out, "Tru-Tru's song!" She did that for pretty much any song that sounded similar to the songs on the CD. Something happened about two months later though. She picked one song that she still refers to as Tru-Tru's song. Out of all the songs she could choose, she chose a song by Rend Collective entitled, Immeasurably More. The song is taken from Ephesians 3:20 which reads, "now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." When we play the song Anniston literally sings along which is such a beautiful thing! How appropriate it is that this song is now known as Tru-Tru's song in our family. What truth it speaks to the circumstances of Truett's story and life. Only God could do what He did for our family during this time. There is no other explanation to be considered. Only God can do immeasurably more in our hearts and in our lives.

When we started writing about Truett's story we did so for several reasons. One reason was because it was therapeutic for Kristen and I. We also wanted people to join us in praying for our son to be healed. Another reason was for us to be real and be able to voice how we felt or what we were thinking. We didn't want to try and pretend that everything was okay or that we didn't have doubts and fears. As we were discussing Truett's birthday we had different thoughts and opinions. We never came to an agreement on what to say in this post so I asked my wife if she would grant me permission to speak freely. She graciously agreed to do so. Thinking about Truett's birthday caused me to look back on Anniston's two birthdays. Kristen planned so much for those parties. Truett doesn't get to have a birthday party, a smash cake or have lots of pictures taken. However, we can still honor our son. Like many of you, we had never heard of acrania or anencephaly until we received Truett's diagnosis. We didn't have anyone to turn to that could offer information on what this would look like or what to expect (other than Google). Only later in the pregnancy did we learn about Duke University and their research for Neural Tube Defects (acrania is a NTD). We have asked you before to donate to Duke and now we're asking again. You can be the difference in someone's life. You can help scientists and researchers better understand acrania and anencephaly. If you would like to get Truett a birthday "gift" I'm asking you to give to Duke. Here are some suggested amounts (but feel free to give according to your financial situation): $10.55 (Truett was born at 10:55am), $32.27 (Truett's verse was Jeremiah 32:27), $47 (Truett was born on April 7th), $85.03 (Truett lived for 85 hours and 3 minutes). If 500 people give $50 that's $25,000 raised for research! That is enough money for 8 families to have their DNA sequenced! Donations can be made online by clicking here.  Click on "make a gift now" and then "make a credit card gift." Under designations click on the field called "add an unlisted designation" which is located near the bottom of the page. Donors must write in 391-2359. There is also a place toward the bottom where donors can dedicate the gift. Checks can be mailed to: Duke University Medical Center, NTD Research Fund, 300 N Duke Street, Durham NC 27701. Duke University is the only organization doing research for children like Truett. You can follow their Facebook page here. Please give as you can so that we can prevent other moms and dads from the heartache of losing a child. We can't thank you enough for the love and support you to continue to show us. We are truly humbled and grateful for your generosity and encouragement! May God bless each of you and your families.

Much love,
Harry, Kristen, Anniston and Truett

2016... Here's to new adventures!

It was the summer of 2012. My wife and I had just returned home from student camp with First Baptist Church of Riverview, Florida. My cousin told me about a church plant in North Carolina while we were away at camp. The church had a job posting on their website looking for a student pastor. Kristen and I thought it would be a good idea for me to apply for the job.

I submitted my application and resume. We tried to gather as much information about the church as possible. We wanted to make sure God was leading us there and that it would be a good fit for us. I had an interview with the Pastor and staff and then we waited. We felt good about this. We really believed God was orchestrating some things in our life and that this was where He was leading. A few weeks went by and finally I got an email. It was an email from Julie Miller (at the time the Campus Director). She thanked me for taking the time to get to know them but stated that they would not be continuing the interview process with me. I was devastated. Kristen was sobbing. How could this happen after we felt so strongly?

A couple of weeks later I replied to Julie’s email. I wanted to thank them for considering us to be a part of what God was doing through them. I expressed to her that we were a little discouraged by the decision but rejoiced that God opens and closes doors of opportunity. These were the beginnings of several email correspondence with the church.

Towards the end of 2012 I still felt very strongly about Kristen and I moving to North Carolina. It was something that I could not shake. We prayed about this decision many times. Many times I had the same answer. By the time 2013 rolled around I was absolutely convinced God was leading us to North Carolina, to this church. We decided to take a step of faith and move. We talked with the church again and told them we believed God was calling us there and that we should be there around March.

Have you ever had one of those conversations with your spouse that starts out pleasant and then out of nowhere leaves you wondering what the heck just happened? Kristen and I had one of those conversations. I don’t even remembering what we were talking about. But I remember talking to her on the phone and she blurted out as we were hanging up, “and I don’t think we should move to North Carolina either!” I didn’t know what to think, say or do. We had just recently told this church we were moving and now we’re going to have to tell him we’re not. I didn’t know it then but we pulled a Steve Harvey. Needless to say, the subject of North Carolina became a source of tension between Kristen and I. She wasn’t sure (or at least that’s what she expressed) that we were called to go. I, however, was unwaveringly convinced. We argued about it. We argued about it a lot. Our conversations went a lot like this, “let’s just move to North Carolina so you’ll be happy” and “let’s just stay in Florida so you’ll be happy.” We didn’t have the healthiest of conversations at times.

March of 2013 we found out we were expecting our first child. Anniston was born in November. I remember the three of us sitting in the living room one afternoon. North Carolina had not gone away. Neither had the arguing. I told my wife that I really believed God was putting in my spirit that something bad was going to happen to us if we did not move. I told her that I was praying for God to do whatever He needed to do to get us wherever we needed to be. Anniston was about 4 months old. Kristen looked at me and said, “you better not be praying for anything bad to happen to her cause you’re gonna feel really bad if something does.” Of course I didn’t want anything to happen to our daughter. I wasn’t sure what to make of these thoughts or inclinations I was having. All I knew was that I believed God was placing them there within my spirit.

Fast forward to September 25, 2014. This was an unimaginable day. Our world nearly crumbled down around us. The fire seemed too hot. The waters were too deep. We walked into our 9:30am doctor’s appointment for our second child. We were told something wasn’t quite right so we needed to see a specialist later that afternoon at 2:00pm. We left our first appointment and ran into Hobby Lobby and then over to Honey Baked Ham to grab some lunch. I’ll never forget walking on the sidewalk to the restaurant. At the time, we didn’t know anything about our child or what might be wrong with him. I felt God speaking to me again. It was about North Carolina. I felt like God was putting things in my heart and spirit. I felt like we would have to travel to Duke Medical Center for our child. We didn’t even know what was wrong with him. He would have to go to Duke to receive some treatments or therapy. That’s what I believed. It wasn’t going to be too bad. If you’re familiar with our story then you know what happened.

Let’s keep going. April 14, 2015 we had Truett’s funeral. Things don’t return to normal. You just begin to live a new normal. It happens to everyone that has lost a loved one. Kristen was pretty confident that because of Truett we would have opportunities to meet other families and minister to those walking similar paths as we did. This was something she could not let go of. She convinced me to get on a plane and fly to New York for us to meet a family who had just lost their little boy to anencephaly.

In October of 2015 I received a text message from Matt Hudson. Matt is the Pastor of Rescue House Church in Mocksville, North Carolina. The church I believed we were called to. He told me that they were going to hire another kids director in January and asked if we would pray about this opportunity for Kristen to serve in that capacity. We prayed specifically for this opportunity and for the church. Now it was Kristen’s turn to go through the interview process with Rescue House. I’ll never forget an email that Julie sent Kristen. Julie stated that while she was following Truett’s story distance she got a glimpse of Kristen’s heart and it was enough for her to want to pursue this opportunity. After a lot of prayer, Rescue House Church offered Kristen a job. She accepted! We are going to North Carolina, finally!

We are so excited for this new adventure and covet your prayers during this time! We are so grateful for each of you and all that you have done in our lives, especially this past year. We will never forget where home is and we’ll be back to visit often! :)

With love,

Harry & Kristen