David and Ruth DeGarmo
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Remembering Gregory: One Year Later

8/5/2013

 
PictureGregory David De Garmo
Today, we remember our youngest child, Gregory, who went to be with the Lord one year ago. In the past year, we have experienced the grace of God in large doses. There is no other way to express it: Losing a child hurts—a lot. But the presence of God has sustained us, the Word of God has encouraged us, and the people of God have embraced us.

Gregory was born with lissencephaly, a congenital malformation of the brain. This condition left him profoundly developmentally delayed. He was twenty years old. After his passing, we received scores of wonderful expressions, one from a missionary friend who recalled how much that a young man who never spoke taught the people that he touched.

God shaped our family to care for Gregory. Our daughters are amazing. Truly precious was the relationship that Kristin and Stacey shared with their “little brother.” People have said nice things about us. But we deserve no praise; we are not perfect people. We did not manage every difficulty with aplomb. I confess to more than one pity party and an occasional grumble.  If anyone deserves praise, it is Ruth. Her unflagging devotion and apparently endless energy that she extended to her son are difficult to describe. She served him endlessly without one word of complaint. That is love.

God shaped me through Gregory. The shape of his mold is love, and I aim to live the rest of my life with a Gregory-shaped heart. Today, I remember Gregory. I miss him sitting beside me in his wheelchair, but I am glad to know that he is with the Lord.

One year later, my reflections are quite simple. God asked us to love a very special boy, to care for him until his room in the Father’s house was ready. It was our joy.


Linda Long
8/6/2013 02:20:42 am

We did not know about Gregory. Miracle shared this link. Blessings on you today.

Jo Ann Myers
8/6/2013 11:26:52 am

I think of Gregory often but I always visualize him running through beautiful flowers and blades of grass. I know he spends so much time getting everything said that he was never able to say. He certainly wants Jesus to know how blessed he was to have been placed in the family he was in. He is making beautiful music just like his sisters. He tells everyone how special they were to him. If he isn't talking he is eating everything in sight that he never got to taste here on earth. I am assured he is making the most of his blessed year in Heaven!!

Pam Scott
8/6/2013 12:11:50 pm

As you both know, I do know first-hand how much losing a child hurts. But we serve an AMAZING God who carries us through the hardest days and gives us the strength to go on. My prayers are with your entire family as you continue on this journey of grief and of a deepening intimacy with Our Father! How Blessed we are to be called His children!


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    David L. DeGarmo (D. Min.) serves Global University as Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Theology. Along with his wife Ruth, he is also a U.S. Missionary. He has extensive experience as an educator, missionary, and pastor.

    David is available to speak at your church or community event. Please email David.Ruth@DRDeGarmo.org for more information.


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