With Great Joy...Comes Great Sorrow

With great joy we announce the birth of our first child, Mia Gabriela Klaehn, into the world on July 31, 2007. Mia was born by C-section in Managua at 2:15 PM. She weighed 6 lbs. 13 ounces and was 19 inches. We waited on the Lord for 10 years for this blessing, many of you remember our prayer requests when visiting your churches, so we are very happy with this wonderful gift from His hand.

It is with great sorrow, however, we share with you the news of a terrible automobile accident involving both of Beatriz’s parents on Wednesday August 29, 2007 in El Salvador. Beatriz’s Mom, María Cruz Rodríguez, died instantly at the scene of the crash. Her Dad, José Artemio Rodríguez, was in critical condition until late that Saturday evening.


As you can imagine our world was torn apart with this news. As we reflect upon this time it seems like a blur. We just remember rushing around trying to get airline tickets to San Salvador while hoping to secure a passport for Mia. Mia wasn't even a month old at the time and the only document we had was her Nicaraguan birth certificate. We had to get her a Nicaraguan passport so she could travel.

We arrived in San Salvador late the following (Thursday) afternoon. We were greeted by family and friends at the church, but it was a somber moment. Yet Beatriz’s Mom seemed to know everybody; she was a very kind and precious soul. The church and gravesite services were just filled with friends and mourners. It was a difficult time saying goodbye; she was buried that Friday.


We were told Beatriz's father was in terrible condition after the accident. He had internal bleeding from hitting the steering wheel and had to have surgery that day. Daniel saw Artemio Saturday afternoon when he was on a ventilator, he had tubes everywhere on his body, but he looked stable. Daniel prayed for Artemio, read some Scripture to him that Beatriz wanted read, held his hand, but there was very little reaction. The only change that occurred (there were other family members in the hospital room with Dan), was that his blood pressure, which was low, began to rise a bit. We were told this was a good sign. The doctors were keeping him medicated so his body could recover, but Beatriz didn't want to see him until after Daniel confirmed to her how bad (or good) he looked. Daniel believed he was getting better. In fact, we had both planned on seeing him that Sunday afternoon, but, sadly, we were informed of his death at 9:00PM Saturday evening. The doctors said he had had three heart attacks, the first two were mild, the last took his life.


José Artemio's funeral was on Monday. He was placed next to Beatriz's mother on a beautiful hill in a cemetery over-looking their neighborhood in San Salvador. It is one the most beautiful cemeteries in El Salvador.

Through all of this you can imagine how we feel. Our world is broken. We are doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances, but it has only been three months since the accident. Beatriz was able to spend time with her sisters (Ana, Juanita and Marina) to mourn her loss, but time has not yet healed all of the pain. It will take longer.

But as we look back over these past few months we would like to give a short testimony of the Lord’s goodness in the midst of this event. First, we realize through God’s word that we are not like those who have no hope. Indeed, both of Beatriz’s parents were Christians and loved the Lord and served Him faithfully (1 Thess 4:13). But we’ve also seen the Lord’s love to us through small, sovereign events that occurred during this time. For instance, we thank the Lord for the opportunity of seeing Beatriz’s parents one last time, the time with Mia, just two weeks before their deaths. Our last memories are of them holding and loving their new granddaughter. In fact, it was Beatriz's Mom who had prayed daily for us for 10 years for the ability to conceive. How fitting for the Lord to reward her with the pleasure of seeing our daughter. And what great comfort she has brought to us since the accident.


But another memory comes to mind from Beatriz’s Dad during their last visit. We remember seeing José Artemio sitting at the dinner table, reflecting on the name of our baby, Mia Gabriela. Now Mia doesn’t mean much in Spanish, it simply means “mine.” But Gabriela is a biblical name, it was the name of the angelic messenger in Daniel and the one who informed Zechariah of the birth of John the Baptist and Mary and Joseph of the birth of Jesus). Gabriela means “God’s valiant one.” But for José Artemio it meant a bit more. You see, Artemio’s father’s name was Gabriel. So there he sat, just thinking, when finally he said “I just never thought someone would name their child after my father.” This was obviously a great blessing and honor for him. Now we hadn’t thought of using the name Gabriela because of the family connection; we simply liked the name. But when we saw Artemio’s pleasure in this, we knew it was from the Lord. We believe the Lord had planned this name for our baby a long time ago. This, along with similar things, has served to comfort us these past few months.


In closing, we would like to ask that you continue to pray for us as we heal from this tragedy. Although things are getting easier the loss is still very fresh. We know the Lord is in control, we believe this, but this knowledge doesn’t take away our loneliness. Please pray that God’s grace would continue to strengthen us. For all those who have known of this and have prayed on our behalf we would like to say “Thank you.” We really sensed the closeness of God’s family during this time. What’s more, we really saw our need for God’s family more than ever before. Thank you. We wouldn’t have been able to get through this without your love and support. May the Lord bless you for your faithfulness.