Let’s hear from Elizabeth:

Hi, my name is Elizabeth Leon and I am from Ashburn, Virginia. My husband Ralph and I were married in 2013 and have ten children between us – 5 of mine, 4 of his, and our son, John Paul Raphael who died January 5, 2018. I was 14 weeks pregnant when we learned that John Paul Raphael had Trisomy 18, always a life-limiting condition. We spent months praying for a miracle and trying to surrender to the path laid out before us: our son was going to die. When John Paul Raphael was born on January 4, 2018, he lived only 1,690 minutes, but they were total joy. His short and shining life was a sacred experience that transformed my heart and left a message of love for the world: let yourself be loved.

Through the darkness of grief, Jesus invited me to unite my sufferings to his Sacred Heart to be restored by His love. Grief exposed hidden wounds in my heart that were deeply in need of healing – not just the loss of my child, but decades of hurts Jesus wanted to soothe with his comfort and truth. It is a holy mystery that the darkness of grief led me to peace, purpose, and joy and to finally embrace my identity as God’s beloved daughter, broken, beautiful, and free.

The heart of a grieving parent is tender, holy ground. When I found Red Bird during my grief journey, I found a trusted friend that understood the language of loss. While no words can lessen the agony of losing your child, there is comfort in knowing you are not alone. In the years since John Paul Raphael died, I have experienced profound healing in and through grief and am privileged to be a part of the mission of Red Bird Ministries to help ordinary families carry an extraordinary cross.