Mercy Seat

The words mercy seat were ringing in my ears today. I googled those words and found one of my favorite songs Revelation Song---by Kari Lobe…I really meditated on the words and tried to focus my brain and hear what God is telling me. I continued to study and define what a mercy seat is---many definitions are out there, these stuck out to me the most---throne of God, resting place of God, blood sprinkled throne, Holy of Hollies, throne of grace and place of atonement.

These days continue to be very difficult and I find myself praying, meditating and seeking God in every aspect of everything I do. I can so see His glory in all of this. The pain is still deep and really stings, but the more I lean on Jesus and lay at the mercy seat, I am getting through each day.

As I sat listening to the lyrics of Revelation Song, I pictured myself singing to our Lord Jesus with my sister, she is right there singing praises to our king, the Lord of Lords. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!

I spoke over and over again all day about knowing the freedom, love and happiness Whitney is feeling right now. I know that she isn’t missing out on anything, we are missing her and feeling like she will miss out. She is having the time of her life, her life eternally in Heaven and with Jesus and many loved ones and I am filled with tears of joy for her.

In my human instinct I feel so very sad that we have another loved one gone, away from us and dealing with the reality and pain everyday is absolutely the hardest thing I have ever done. The hugs to my children who either understand in a very small way or not at all and helping them get through that grief is by far another hard part of this reality.

I pray and continue to ask God to show me the next step, the way to get through this day and I continue to love God, sing praises to Him and through Him I am getting through these days.

We all are grieving in our own way, but alike we are all leaning on Christ. As I know you will, continue to lift our family in prayer and keep us close to your heart as we continue to get through each day.

With much love,

Whit’s Sisters

“There rested upon the ark this solid plate of gold which was called the mercy seat. It is mentioned twenty-three times in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament it is taken up as referring to the Lord Jesus. It is so set forth in the Letter to the Hebrews. The mercy seat on the ark of the Old Testament is one other aspect of the glory and greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“…so that in the person of the high priest all the people of God were present, and there, at the mercy seat, God spoke and made Himself known to His people.”

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:33-35, 37-39).”

“That is the mercy-seat, the steadfast love of God for His own. That is the greatness and glory of Jesus Christ; and surely we can speak of that as grace and glory. That is what Jesus Christ has been made unto us.”

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son", and God has set Him forth as a mercy seat. We shall never exhaust the wonderful fullness of this mercy seat! We find all the patience and the long-suffering and the forbearance of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Whitney's Obituary

Whitney Taylor Jade Whitehead age 22, was taken to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus on April 3rd, 2011. Whitney had H1N1 and pneumonia and had spent 24 fighting days in ICU, until she could no longer fight the complications of this horrible sickness. Whitney was born on August 17th, 1988. She was a very special baby and such a blessing to her parents and sisters as well as countless family and friends. Whitney loved so much. She had a contagious giggle and was a very loving person. Whitney was a Nanny for Stefanie, her sister and she was in school, studying medical transcription, she was so close to finishing her degree. She will be deeply deeply missed. She is proceeded in death by her father, Scott Whitehead and survived by her mother Tracy Whitehead and her sisters---DeAnna (Aadam) Marshall, Stefanie Whitehead and Maddie Whitehead as well as her best friend who meant so much to her Katie Parker and her nieces and nephews, Rylee, Baylee, Corbin, Eli, Frankie, Isabelle and Presley and countless relatives. Whitney’s Celebration of Life service will be held on Thursday, April 14th at 1:00 pm at Bellingham CTK, 4173 Meridian Street in Bellingham, WA. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Whitney Whitehead donation account at any WECU, this account was created to cover her medical expenses. We thank you all for your loving words and constant prayers during this time.

Walk by faith, not by sight

Taking one day at a time...looking over the last few weeks, thinking about heaven and the joy Whitney feels and how happy she is in a place where she is healed and in the arms of Jesus. Everything is still very raw, this is still extremely hard. I lean more on Christ then I ever have in my entire life. We all are.

I went back to March 11th in the devotional Jesus Calling to see what was said on that day...a day we may have not understood what was about to happen and where our journey would take us in the very long days we went through while our Whitney was in ICU and then the weeks to come.

March 11th...Jesus Calling---WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT. As you take steps of faith, depending on Me, I will show you how much I can do for you. If you live your life too safely, you will never know the thrill of seeing Me work through you. When I gave you My Spirit, I empowered you to live beyond your natural ability and strength. That's why it is so wrong to measure your energy level against the challenges ahead of you. The issue is not your strength but mine, which is limitless. By walking close to Me, you can accomplish My purposes in My strength.

Our journey isn't even close to being over and wont be over until we are home with Jesus and where Whitney is...and then wow, that is really just the beginning...years ago when I had faced some medical trauma, I had been on a healing road myself, questioned the whys and for what reason's...I had read a book a friend had given me...in the words written, it had talked about the small amount of time we are really here on Earth and how much it is a dot a literal dot of time...and eternity is our heavenly home and even though I remained here on Earth and my journey still continues, I find comfort in knowing there is a place, our real home...and someday and someday soon I will see my sister, my dad and the many loved ones who went home before us.

This reality doesn't take away from the pain and grief we are all facing now and for however long, but there is so much more hope in our journey on Earth and forever more. Whitney will be forever in our hearts, always missed. We can also rejoice in her life eternal with Jesus and we will be joining her sometime soon.

Your loving prayers and Jesus' love are what is getting us through each day we are facing.

Our hearts still remain heavy, but hopeful at the same time.

Whit's Sisters

Heavy Hearts

Oh, I have such a heavy heart right now...I can only say I am sad and how much I don't understand... those are the only words I form, literally.

I know Whitney is in Heaven and she is happy, healthy and at peace and with her Jesus and our Dad. My faith hasn't changed, I believe in Jesus, believe everything has a place and a fit, just like a puzzle. I just feel such a heaviness for this deep deep pain. Losing Whitney was a bigger blow then losing Dad. It was like someone ripped the band-aid off, so quick---and it still stings.

Whitney will be deeply deeply missed, missed by so many. Your encouraging words and constant prayers are very healing and if I didn't walk this road with Jesus, I would be lost and could be in a different place mentally right now. There may be some of you who are following this journey and aren't believers, I urge you to take this time to really reflect where you are headed when your life here on earth is done. I know where I am headed, where Whitney is and her life and death can be an opportunity for Jesus to change yours.

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" Acts 16:31

"Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going." John 14:1 - 4

 ^1-5For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we'll never have to relocate our "tents" again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what's coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we're tired of it! We've been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we'll never settle for less.
2 Corinthians 5: 1-5 (The Message)

I am going to let God's word echo in my heavy heart awhile. Our family is deeply grieving and are going to be taking it one day at a time. We will continue to give you word on memorial happenings and all those details as they form.

With heavy hearts,
Whit's Sisters

Home with Jesus

Whitney fought the good fight, but Jesus took her home. We thank you for all your prayers and support!

God Heals

Wow what a morning this has been. We had gotten word from the doctors that Whitney had a shadowy something in her lungs, the doctors were going to do another x-ray to determine what exactly it was, they had thought it was most likely a hole in her lung. They had a conversation with mom about putting a tube in her lung if that was the case... Immediately I sent out the call for prayers and praise the Lord the second x-ray came back with nothing!

This road is hard, it is long and the ups and downs are a challenge. Whitney's numbers and stats remain stable, she continues to defy all the odds and baffle these doctors. Our hope, faith and everything we have remain focused on Christ, His words and His truth.

We have no idea what will happen, where this road ends. There are days that we honestly feel encouraged and blessed and days we are a puddle of tears. We know are God heals, His word is healing, We hear Him in everything.

Your prayers, encouraging words and your love for Whitney and our family is so precious to all of us.

Pray pray pray!

Love to you all,
Whit's Sisters

Radical Truth

It is truly amazing what God is doing right now! He is very much in control and taking over room #346! We had resigned to the idea that we wouldn't get words of praise from Whit's doctors and nurses and Praise Jesus, we have Dr. Lam back on evenings and a wonderful nurse today...both of them today were positive and encouraging. With that being said, we had determined yesterday after a very difficult meeting with one of Whitney's doctors and where they were heading that we would only look to God, the Great Physician from here on out. We are very versed on the numbers and stats and with a quick sweep with my eyes I can determine where she is at in seconds. All day her numbers on her oxygen were coming down, her blood gas exchange was in the 90's and for some powerful awesome news...her mean airway (the number that was once 36 and needed to be at 24 to get onto the new vent) number was 28! 28 people!!!! Only Jesus can give those numbers! What a turn around...yesterday, this crazy doc is talking about terminating care and we declared Jesus would heal her and boom! Radical Truth!

I don't think I can really convey how much we feel your prayers! We thank you for lifting Whitney in Jesus name, we thank you for supporting us and praying for our strength during this time! You are all beautiful people! Please continue to pray these numbers move and that the various infections, that were once a secondary issue are able to start repairing themselves so her body can focus on healing the virus still raging in her!

Praise Jesus!

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

With eager hearts,
Whit's Sisters