Melody June Blackwell

Adam and I went to the funeral of Melody Blackwell today. It was a very spiritual meeting that made BOTH Adam and I cry. You will certainly understand as I tell you the story of her life.

Kimberly Blackwell and her husband Thomas are in mine and Adam's ward here in Arizona. Kimberly is the Primary President I work with and Thomas is on the stake high council. Adam played softball with Thomas. Adam doesn't know Kimberly very well and I don't know Thomas very well, but we both talk to each other about what amazing people both of them are and how much we look up to them. Besides the fact that they are one of the prettiest couples you've ever seen, they are also a couple that everyone immediately admires because of their humility, genuine kindness and deep love of the gospel. While working with Kimberly in primary, I have been inspired by how seriously she takes her calling and how much she depends on the spirit to guide her. The Blackwells also have two beautiful little girls. This is the kind of family that normally would make you jealous and bitter because they appear so perfect, but no matter how much you want to hate them, every time you seem them or talk to them you can only love them and look up to them more. This family inspires me to be better. What a great Primary President to work for, eh?

Anyway, I found out that Kimberly was pregnant some time in January when she was just days away from learning the sex of the baby. So, she was well ahead of me in terms of her pregnancy. Well, the baby was a girl, which would give them three daughters. At about 5 months, the Blackwells found out that the baby, who they named Melody, had "left aplastic heart syndrome." This was obviously serious and devastating, but it also was possible to fix through surgery before birth. So they went to a specialist at the hospital, planning for the surgery. The worst news of all came here: Melody also had a second heart condition, "non-patent pulmonary valve," which meant that this valve in her heart was shut and would not open at birth, preventing the blood to flow through the heart, meaning Melody would live only a few minutes once she was born.

Thomas spoke at the funeral and read some of Kimberly's thoughts that she wrote down after hearing the news. She wrote about how devastating she was; as she stared out of the car window on the way home from the hospital she pondered what she wanted. What she wanted was for her daughter to live, to be able to hold her alive in her arms (This is where I started crying). She thought about what gives her the right to ask God for a miracle when she has been blessed so much in her life already. Her conclusion was that she was a child of God and that alone gave her the right to ask for a miracle. That thought stayed with me. It gave me a new sense of what being a child of God means. We may not be perfect, but we are God's children, and just as a loving father would, he is always wanting to bless us and help us come closer to him. Kimberly understood that she may not get the miracle she was asking for and that it was dependent upon the will of the Lord. Even if she could only hold her daughter while she was alive for a short while, the miracle would be worth asking for. This is where intense prayer and fasting enters, combined with great faith in the power of God. Later on, the ward was invited to fast and pray with them. Kimberly repeatedly felt God reassure her, "be still and know that I am God." This and a lot of other things helped comfort her and her family that, no matter what happened, everything would work out for the best. That piece of revelation, "be still and know that I am God," touched me more than anything else at the funeral.

Well, the big day came and they had the birth at home with a midwife and the approval of the doctor. Thomas was able to receive Melody and upon birth she was very blue. Thomas gave her a priesthood blessing and they tried to make her as comfortable as possible, expecting her to pass away shortly. Thomas described his two little girls gently and lovingly rubbing Melody's toes as she laid there with her family. This is where the miracle begins: some time after the blessing, Melody began to gain color throughout her body and to breath more normally. How she was able to survive, only God knows, but she survived as a very healthy baby for 13 days. Her family described those 13 days as some of the most "blissful" days they have enjoyed together.

On the 13th day Melody stopped breathing. Kimberly immediately started infant CPR which kept her alive for a short while. Then, Thomas said that Kimberly told Melody it was her choice, and very quickly they felt her spirit leave her body. Thomas then spoke of the experience after they called 911, which he said was done simply because that was what they were told to do once Melody died. The sargent on duty that night told Thomas after 10 years in his job, never had he seen more church members at the scene of a call. Thomas described some of them and how each one, through their understanding of the church, was able to comfort them in some way and make the situation a little easier. One of the detectives asked Thomas, "Are you sealed?" Thomas said yes. "Then everything will be okay. As long as you are sealed in the temple, you will be okay." Later, Thomas had to be questioned by another detective. This detective was not a member, but her husband was. She said she knew the questioning would be hard, but she would try to make it as easy as possible. Thomas said that all he could remember was talking about the gospel and that at some point she told him that she felt something different at their home, that they were special. Thomas also described how giving up his little girl to the medical examiner was one of the hardest things he had ever done. He was comforted by the words of the examiner when he (who was a member of the church) told Thomas, "from brother to brother, from priesthood to priesthood, I've got her. Don't worry." Thomas later found out that this medical examiner was the only member of the church in the entire area and that normally he worked only during the day.

I know, without a doubt in my mind, that the Lord was taking care of this family in so many ways. Through the great faith of her family and other members of the church, God gave this family the gift of being able to love and get to know Melody, even if it was for a short time. God knew this would be a tough experience for them and blessed them with 13 days. He knew they would need comfort and family and friends to help them. He provided that for them. God loves his children. God requires us to deal with a lot of hard things in life, but if we will trust in him and allow him, he will help make those trials a little easier to bare. During those trials will be our greatest opportunity to become more like God. He has the power to bring about all things and in that knowledge I find great comfort.

"Be still and know that I am God."