Caleb

Dearest friends,
On Thursday the 9th of June, my 13 month old nephew and Godson, Caleb, went home to be with his Father.
I found out on the Wednesday of camp (because of the time difference). I was very blessed with the comfort of my fellow camp leaders, the prayers of all campers and leaders for our family, and James, who never left my side.
At 10pm on the Friday (my time) I decided to go home to Australia for the funeral. I had to leave the next morning, so James and Jordan (my fantastical awesome champion of a mate) from back home spent the next 10 hours organising flights and liasing with one another and airline offices in order to get me a cheap flight home in time. At 9.35am after 1.5 hours sleep (for both James and I), I was on my way to Orlando airport (3 hours). From there I headed to Minneapolis, to LA to Sydney, to Adelaide, where Dad (my newly transformed father, in ripped jeans and a metro shirt...hehehe) was there to pick me up and take me to Berri (3 hours north east) for the funeral. But before I get to that, I''ll tell you about my first impressions of Australia (as a foreigner...haha).
The first things I noticed in Sydney airport were the friendly airport staff ('Yeh, no worries. Not a problem!' when I left my journal on the plane), the cheap HIGH QUALITY cadbury chocolate, the shuttle driver on the WRONG SIDE of the road (or so I thought), the lovely crisp PLASTIC $50 note I got out of the ATM and nasal Aussie accents left right and centre....ahhh, it was good to be home.
Flying out of Sydney was a treat, as I've never flown over the Blue Mountains. I could see deep crevasses (just, I never get a window seat!) and cliffs and my first thought was that James and I MUST go climbing there one day!
I couldn't see much out of the window most of the way - but it's funny how excited you can get over dry bushes and barren landscape...yup, this is home. I almost stood in my seat and sang '...but no matter how far or how wide I roam, I still call Australia home...' might've gotten bonus points from QANTAS.
Dad wasn't waiting at the airport...but, just as I had dropped my shoulders and headed towards the baggage conveyer belt in disappointment, he redeemed himself by rounding the corner just in time...I gave him a massive hug and chattered the whole way to my aunty's house.
It's funny 'cos when I got to America I was all like 'in Australia' which made people annoyed, I think...but now it's all 'in America' which I think people are tiring of also...I just can't win! So I will keep my cultural differences to myself from now on!
So I got to Berri and had some great fun with the family. We played Chinese whispers (or, as the more politically correct Americans call it, Telephone) and Celebrity Heads. Anisia and I headed off to the bottle-o to get a few drinks (ahhh, legal age again) to have with Mum and Dad, and the dude gave me a free Twister Shot because I had the hiccups...haha, they left me a few seconds before he gave us the shots, but we didn't tell him that...ah, good old country townspeople.
The funeral the next day was beautiful. We went to the viewing first, and it was so helpful to see Caleb's little body, without his soul, because it reinforces the fact that our bodies really are just a shell. Anisia made a beautiful powerpoint presentation with photos and videos of Caleb and we celebrated his life. As at his baptism, we sang the song, 'What the Lord Has Done in Me':
'Let the weak say I am strong,
Let the poor say I am rich,
Let the blind say I can see,
It's what the Lord has done in me.'
That third line is always particularly touching, because, as you know, Caleb was the little boy without the part of his brain responsible for sight...and he saw. He really was a miracle baby.
Rikki's friend, Troy and I were Caleb's Godparents, so we carried his coffin, with Rikki at the back. His little coffin was so tiny, and had a little 'C' on top, the wooden ones you buy at a craft fair, which had come from the door to his room.
At the cemetery we sang Jesus Loves Me, which is the song Rikki and Kristin sang to little Caleb in his last hour, and then lowered his shell into the ground. From dust to dust. We threw the first flowers, and Joshie put some pictures he had drawn for Caleb on his coffin. Then we mourned with Rikki and Kristin and a huge gathering of people who had been touched by Caleb's life.
Back at the church afterwards, in true Lutheran style, there was food galore, so we all gathered around and ate and caught up...my family hasn't been together in 4 years, neither has Dad's or my Mum's, so I couldn't help but think that, although he didn't know it, Caleb had provided a time for us to be together, to laugh and cry and take a thousand photos!
I think Caleb also taught us to pray. Congregations came together in prayer, people who didn't know how to pray whispered softly to 'someone' and people all over the world asked that God's will be done in the life of one little boy.
He was happy and well for a year of his life, he brought us so much joy and he was loved. We have no regrets, and I hold no anger. I think if anything, we should thank God for his divine wisdom and that Caleb only had to spend one year on earth and an eternity in heaven.
I will post this for now and then write more on my arrival in Qld and surprises etc...
I love you all,
I try not to mourn for Caleb, but instead use that energy in praying for you all, and that one day we will sit around the table in God's dining room, and wonder why we ever clung to this life.
His,
Ellie
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P.S. To read more of Caleb's story, go to http://calebrikkilambert.tripod.com



on the morning of Caleb's birthday 20/4/2005
Taken February 2005 in Mildura, Victoria