Praying for Little Daniel

[Vicki]

Daniel was doing ok today until he started bleeding in his stomach. Not sure what this means yet, but it is quite concerning. - Sabbath morning.

Little Daniel is ever in my prayers.

[colporteur]

He is safely nestled in the Lord's hands. That's a good place to be come what may.

[Vicki]

That's right.

[Mimi]

Daniel Roth
13 minutes ago

Daniel Harley Roth
February 28, 2013 - April 15, 2013

Come Lord Jesus.

We grieve with you and for you, Immanuel and Keara. We echo your cry - "Come, Lord Jesus!"

[Vicki]

I am so sorry for your loss. 

Jesus will hold little Daniel in remembrance until that glorious day.

"No more night, no more pain
No more tears, never crying again
And praises to the great, "I AM"
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb..."

[LindaRS]

Our words are so weak in our efforts to offer you some comfort in your grief. We thank God for his promises and remember that His everlasting arms are beneath you and He will bear you up.

Asleep In Jesus

    Asleep in Jesus! Blessed sleep,
    From which none ever wakes to weep;
    A calm and undisturbed repose,
    Unbroken by the last of foes.

    Asleep in Jesus! Oh, how sweet,
    To be for such a slumber meet,
    With holy confidence to sing
    That death has lost his venomed sting!

    Asleep in Jesus! Peaceful rest,
    Whose waking is supremely blest;
    No fear, no woe, shall dim that hour
    That manifests the Savior’s pow’r.

    Asleep in Jesus! Oh, for me
    May such a blessed refuge be!
    Securely shall my ashes lie,
    And wait the summons from on high.

    Asleep in Jesus! Far from thee
    Thy kindred and their graves may be;
    But there is still a blessed sleep,
    From which none ever wakes to weep.
                                       Margaret Mackay

[Dorine]

God bless and comfort you at this sad time. It won't be long and you will be holding your little one in your arms never to part again. I want to meet Daniel and his Mommy and Daddy someday.

[Mimi]

Daniel Roth
2 hours ago
Memorial service will be held Tuesday, April 16, 2013 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at:

Gobles-Pinedale Seventh-day Adventist Church
32146 6th Ave
Gobles, MI 49055-9078

Daniel will be buried in South Dakota near Keara's parents home.

"The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart:
and merciful men are taken away, none considering
that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
He shall enter into peace:
they shall rest in their beds,
each one walking in his uprightness." - Isaiah 57:1-2

[Mimi]

"taken away from the evil to come ..." and yet in a little while after the tempest is over, angels of the Almighty will take him to you and Keara and he will be glorified perfection and he will know you.

Never forget how much we love you. 

[Richard Myers]

Our condolences go out to Pastor and Mrs. Roth. Their little son, Daniel Harley went to sleep in Jesus today. There can be nothing more painful than watching your child suffer. Their sorrow is shared by all who have been praying for Little Daniel Roth.

We have great hope that very soon parents and son will be reunited. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." 

A most beautiful promise: "Our fondest hopes are often blighted here. Our loved ones are torn from us by death. We close their eyes and habit them for the tomb, and lay them away from our sight. But hope bears our spirits up. We are not parted forever, but shall meet the loved ones who sleep in Jesus. They shall come again from the land of the enemy. The Life-giver is coming. Myriads of holy angels escort Him on His way. He bursts the bands of death, breaks the fetters of the tomb, the precious captives come forth in health and immortal beauty. As the little infants come forth immortal from their dusty beds, they immediately wing their way to their mothers’ arms. They meet again nevermore to part."

Little Daniel holding onto Mommy

A memorial service will be held tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Gobles-Pinedale Seventh-day Adventist Church, 32146 6th Ave., Gobles, Mi.

[Sister Dee]

Immanuel and Keara, take comfort in that precious promise that you will one day soon be eternally reunited with your little Daniel.  Many have been touched by his short life on this earth and your faithful testimony throughout.  May the Lord bless you with the peace that only He can give.  You are in our prayers.     

[Dora]

Dear Pastor Immanuel and Keara,
I have known you, Immanuel, for some time, and though you may not remember, my daughter, Donna Goodchild, (at that time) was the secretary at Kalamazoo SDA church. We want to join our prayers with so many others, praying for peace and comfort for you in your sorrow. I lost a son to death at age 33, I know the pain, and I hurt for and with you.

But, the comfort of the "Blessed Hope" is always with me, as I know it is with you. It will not be very long...

In Christ's Love,

Dora
(Dorothy Dunbar)

[Mimi]

Immanuel and Keara, along with their extended family, have been heavily on my mind as they lay to rest little Daniel. God is going about the business of healing their hearts and comforting them. As we know, this will take time. Join me in praying for them during the rough months ahead.

[Immanuel]

Keara and I would like to thank everyone for your prayers, it has been such an encouragement and blessing through this difficult time. At Daniel's memorial services we shared a little of the journey that we have been on with Daniel and I would like to share that here as well, so here it is:

Daniel Harley Roth

Many had wondered why we had waited so long for kids, but it was always our plan to wait about 10 years. Right on schedule, shortly after our 10th wedding anniversary, Keara said “umm…. I think that I am pregnant.”  After confirming and reconfirming with home tests we were sure that our plans were coming together as they should. We were so excited!!

Six weeks into the pregnancy we had a scare that sent us rushing to the doctor. The ultrasound seemed to show that everything was ok. And subsequent ultrasounds showed a seemingly healthy growing cute little baby. Then in the beginning of January we had another routine ultrasound scheduled in South Haven. At that appointment we began an educational course that we sincerely hope no one else ever has to take. In the next weeks we learned many new terms and about many medical complications. The first term that we learned was IUGR or interuterine growth restriction, our doctor told us that we needed to meet with a Maternal-Fetal Medicine doctor in Grand Rapids so that they could further look at the situation, they are the experts and they could give a better diagnosis. Our doctor at South Haven, who was not just our doctor but our friend prayed for us as we left that appointment and prayed that the Lord would look after our baby every step of the way. It was then that we had a much clearer understanding of how fragile life is, how much we need the sustaining power of God each and every day.

A whirlwind of appointments followed. IUGR was confirmed and our educational course continued. We were told the possible causes of Daniel’s condition were anything from an infection to a chromosomal abnormality. Physicians hypothesized that it could be Trisomy 13 or Triploidy or Trisomy 18 or an infection from cytomegalovirus, all terms that are as scary as they sound. Every physician we talked to, and we spoke with many, said that they did not expect our baby to survive to delivery and if he did he would probably only survive for a few minutes.

We decided that regardless of the outcome we needed to name our baby. We decided on Daniel because Daniel in the Bible always trusted God, even when the situation was extremely dire, like being thrown into a lion’s den. We wanted to raise baby Daniel to always trust in the Lord, even if we could not raise him here we knew we could raise him in heaven. Harley is the name of Immanuel’s dad and brother and Immanuel’s middle name. So we named him Daniel Harley Roth. We prayed that we would get to meet him soon.

With all of the grim diagnosis that we were getting from the physicians we began preparing ourselves for the worst, but praying for the best. We did a number of tests to try to see if a specific diagnosis could be made. All tests came back normal. But the ultrasounds continued to show serious problems. In the middle of February we decided to have an amniocentesis done. However when we got to the appointment we discovered that the amniotic fluid had reduced so much that the test could not be performed and that we had to decide to either deliver right away or we could choose to not deliver and let Daniel pass away in the womb. We asked the doctor if he was sure that Daniel would not make it and he said that if Daniel survived after delivery he would most likely live for only a few minutes, but he also said that in 20 years he had seen a lot of things happen and he could not say that this outcome was for sure.

After much agonizing in prayer we opted for delivery, which was not a simple decision. We were 30 weeks gestation and because of the IUGR Daniel was the size of a 23 week gestation baby, but we believed that the Lord wanted us to at least give Daniel a chance as long as his little heart was beating. What an exciting and fearful time that was, a time of great anticipation, we just didn’t know what to anticipate – joy or sorrow. Going into the delivery ward on Thursday, February 28 was a whirlwind. Initially the doctors planned to deliver Daniel on Friday, March 1, but about 6:30 Thursday evening the doctor came in and said that as they continued to monitor Daniel’s heart they saw it slowing down so we need to deliver immediately.

There were so many emotions that we were feeling, but we prayed that the Lord would work a miracle but ultimately that His will would be done.

Immanuel will never forget hearing the nurse call out “19:32” and wondering if that was the time of Daniel’s birth or the time of his death. The answer was quickly evident – Daniel was alive. What a beautiful little miracle he was at 1 pound 2 oz and 11 inches long! They were able to intubate him and get his lines in for his nutrition and then show him to his mommy. Then he was wheeled up to area 11 of the NICU which would be his home.

The next few days were largely a blur. With Keara recovering from the cesarian and being treated for preeclampsia and Daniel being on the other side of the hospital, we made numerous trips back and forth. Daniel was doing quite well those first few days. We began to get to know his little personality. He was quite a fighter! But also so laid back and mellow.

During the first week Daniel had his first setback. His lung collapsed and he had to get a chest tube. This began a cycle of one step forward and then two steps back. The experience in the NICU is something that cannot be described in words. Rollercoaster is the term most often used to describe the experience and it is probably closest yet doesn’t quite capture the totality of the ride we were on.  Watching your son through a plexiglass incubator or “isolet”, knowing that the only real thing you can do for him is pray is an experience that really tests ones faith. As a parent you want so much to help your child, to hold him and tell him that everything is going to be alright, but these were not possible for us to do with Daniel. We could touch him and help change his diaper and take his temperature, which we loved to do, but otherwise our interaction was limited to watching him in his isolet and pleading with God to perform a miracle.

During our time in the NICU we met many amazing people. There are a surprising number of people necessary to care for such a tiny baby. This became very evident the day that Daniel had to change isolets. The one that he had been in was not functioning properly so they had to bring in a new one. It took eight people to move a two pound baby less than three feet from one isolet to the next. This was necessary because of all of the IV lines, breathing tube, drainage tubes and other equipment that was hooked to Daniel to help keep him alive.

Daniel’s care team at Helen Devos Children’s Hospital was truly amazing. From the environmental services staff who graciously kept the NICU spotlessly clean to the respiratory therapists who made sure Daniel’s vent was working correctly and his lungs were sounding good to the excellent doctors who did everything they could to help heal Daniel and to keep him comfortable, we were very blessed to meet each one. But the biggest blessing were the nurses. Such a professional, dedicated, caring group who tirelessly cared for our sweet baby. We can never say thank you enough for the care that these wonderful people gave to our son. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you.

Also another group of people we met were the other parents on Daniel’s unit. Being a NICU parent is like be in an elite club, except that no one ever wants to join. But for those who are part of that club you know what we have been through, the anxiety, the ups and downs. While we were in the NICU we experienced the joys and sorrows not only of what Daniel was going through but also of the other little ones that were in Daniel’s unit. We remember when twins Andrew and Isaac were wheeled in next to Daniel and we wondered where the mom was only to discover that she had delivered them in a different hospital in a different town and wouldn’t be able to see them for several days while she recovered. How our hearts ached for Lindsey, the twins mom, because we could just imagine the torture she was going through not being able to be with her babies. We so appreciated getting to know Lindsey and Jeff and the other parents in the NICU and sharing our highs and lows with each other, praying for one anothers children.

Several people have asked us if we were ever jealous of other parents whose children were doing much better than our own. We can honestly say, no never. The only thing that brought us true joy during our stay in the NICU, other than seeing Daniel and spending time with him and when he made positive improvement, was to see other babies doing well. It is really something that has to be experienced to understand. When we came in the day that Andrew and Isaac had graduated to the pavilion we were so happy that they were one step closer to being able to go home and we continue to pray that they and every baby in area 11 and throughout the NICU will be able to go home soon.

Despite our current sorrow we do not have the words to express how thankful we are for all of the people who we have met during our journey in the NICU, they have touched our hearts and we thank them.

We also thank our wonderful families and friends and our churches. Many of you have kept up with Daniel’s progress on Facebook and have followed his story, prayed for him and us and have shared our joy and grief. You, our family and friends, have supported and lifted us up through this extremely difficult time. The outpouring of love was and is such a blessing and help to us. It has been said that a time of crisis will reveal who your friends are and who really cares for you and we are so deeply moved by all of you, our family and friends, who cared and are caring for us. We especially thank our family for supporting us and helping us through the most difficult time of our lives. Thank you. We can’t wait for each of you to be able to meet Daniel in heaven, to play with him, to hug him, to personally show him the love and care that you have shown to us.

We would like to speak for a moment to all of Daniel’s little friends who have prayed for baby Daniel. Thank you! We want you to know that Jesus did answer your prayers. He will heal Daniel when He comes to take us to heaven and then you can meet him and play with him and Daniel won’t be sick anymore. We know that Daniel will love each one of you!

We have always wanted to raise our children to be a witness for God. When all of this began with Daniel we really wondered if we were ever going to be able to raise him to be that witness. Would he ever get to be someone who would turn people’s thoughts towards God? We feared that he would never get that chance. But our fears were unfounded! Despite being just a precious tiny little baby who we couldn’t even hear cry because he was intubated, Daniel had a tremendous impact on many lives. People all over the world were praying for Daniel and hoping that he would make it. From our families and friends, church family, to people we have never even met, but who read about baby Daniel on Facebook, Daniel did a work that no one, not the most eloquent preacher, not the most studied theologian, not the most skilled soul-winner, could have done. He reached people that they could not reach. He turned people’s thoughts and minds to the One who is the giver of life. So many people have written and told us that because of Daniel they have prayed much more and spent more time with the Lord. Daniel, living up to his name, was a true witness for Jesus. We can’t wait to get to heaven and hold him in our arms and meet some of the people who will be there because of his impact on their life.

Being a parent is such a blessing and not something to take for granted. Daniel has touched our lives in a way that words cannot express. It is such a blessing to be “Daniel’s Mommy and Daddy” and we are thankful that God has given us this amazing gift.

The evening before Daniel passed away we were able to hold him in our arms for the first time. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of our lives. Daniel Harley Roth passed away early the next morning in my (Keara’s) arms. We can’t wait for heaven when we will be able to hold our sweet baby boy again.

This is the blessed hope that we look forward to. We hope that you are planning on being there with us for eternity where there is no more sorrow, no more pain, no more suffering, no more tears of sadness only tears of joy.

Thank you again to everyone for helping and supporting us, your care has moved us beyond words, all we can say is thank you.

[Richard Myers]

Pastor Immanuel, it is we who want to thank you and Keara for sharing your joy and sorrow with us. It has been our privilege to pray for Little Daniel. But, more than that, to witness your faith through this great trial. Thank you for sharing today. It is a powerful witness of what God wants to do in each of our lives. First, no matter how great the trial, He is there to uphold us. Secondly, death is no more than sleep. While we sorrow over the separation that occurs at death, we are not as the unbeliever who has no hope of a future life without sin and death. Ours is a most precious future with those who have, like Little Daniel, died in Christ. The separation for Daniel will be ever so short. And even for us, we know that Jesus is coming very soon.

Again, thank you, Pastor and Mrs. Roth for sharing with us this most difficult time in your lives. We will always remember the joy and the sorrow and look forward to watching Little Daniel grow up in a better world. Our minds have been set as ease, as we realize that you both are in the hands of our Lord and continue to manifest the faith of Jesus to a world soon to perish. May God richly bless your ministry.

[Mimi]

Amen and amen!

The evening before Daniel passed away we were able to hold him in our arms for the first time. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of our lives. Daniel Harley Roth passed away early the next morning in my (Keara’s) arms. We can’t wait for heaven when we will be able to hold our sweet baby boy again.

Oh, how I wanted this for you, to be able to hold him. Alas it was possible! Even so, come Lord Jesus!

[Sister Dee]

Thank you for sharing your journey with us.  Even though the experience was bittersweet, I'm sure you wouldn't trade it for the blessing of getting to know your precious baby boy. 

[Dora]

Dear Pastor Immanuel and Keara,
My prayer for you is that you continue to grow daily closer to Jesus, and that you may truly know our Father and His great love, and, Jesus Christ...this is live eternal.

May we all rejoice together one day soon, in Heaven, with each other and with our children we have laid to rest in Jesus.