More To Life

Mark A. Rogers
November 13, 1951
June 20, 2012

When Liam was born I was pretty upset with God that He would allow such a thing happen to a baby and my baby none the less. I know God doesn’t allow this stuff to happen and that is just does because of our sinful world. But when you’re so overwhelmed with your painful situation you can’t always think straight. My heart and mind were so crowded with hurt, disappointment, fear and array of feelings that it had no capacity to trust that God knew what He was doing. Yes at moments I blamed God but deep down inside I never really meant it. It was just my pain speaking. I don’t blame God for what happened to Liam.

After some time I was finally ok with our future and accepted what could be? Yes I would go in and out of emotions with the whole situation, what parent wouldn’t? I would one moment be upset with the situation and ask God why this had to happen to Liam? Is there a reason? Would he ever walk? Crawl? When will the pain stop for him? When will the emotional pain stop for us? Then other moments I would be ok with everything. I’d be somewhat excited that he’ll be different. Would question if he wasn’t born with his issues would he be this loved by everyone? Would he be so heavily prayed for by people all over the world? Would he be impacting peoples live in such a huge way?

I often wonder if Liam was born with healthy legs would he of had such a huge impact on Mark? I’m not sure he would. For those of you who may not know Mark Rogers struggled a lot with his health. The most recent health concern was cancer. In December 2011 Mark wasn’t doing too good. He had become so sick. I couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like for his family to see him suffer so greatly. I also couldn’t what it must have been like for Mark to suffer like that. It just breaks my heart to think about. As most of you know Liam was born with 2 broken femurs, 2 dislocated hips, both feet were severely clubbed, both knees don’t straighten and he also has muscle weakness in his legs. For some reason when Mark found out about Liam he just took to him like glue. Mark became Liam’s prayer warrior. I remember when Mark was in church he told me he was praying for Liam daily. When Mark says he’s praying for you, he means he’s praying for you. He also told me that Liam is giving him something to fight for. He was fighting just like Liam was fighting. Liam also gave him a reason not to turn from God just because he struggling. He started spending time with God because of my son. My not even a month old son. Mark continually made sure to let us know how important Liam was to him.

We were at the Rogers house June 12th so that Andrew and Mark could play some music together and so that Mark could see Liam. After they played some music we got the devastating news that Mark’s doctor said that the chemo is going to cause more harm than him not being on chemo at all. In order to make Mark as comfortable as possible his doctor gave him 6 months to a year so Hospice could come in. Mark and Anna were saying that it seemed like they were giving him this time frame so Hospice could come in. I think Hospice only comes in under certain circumstances. Never would we of guessed he would go downhill so fast. On June 20th he left to be with his Lord.

June 23rd was Mark’s funeral and like most funerals there are a get together or lunch afterwards. After we were done eating our lunch we had to head home because Liam was becoming cranky. He was hungry and tired so to avoid a complete meltdown we headed out. Before leaving we said our goodbyes to the family. Anna, Mark’s wife, was the last I met up with and she told me something that would be burned into my heart forever. She told me she was so thankful for Liam and that because of Liam they had 6 more months with Mark. When she said that to me it took everything within me not to cry. My son had such a great impact on Mark to the point where it gave him 6 more months to live.

Yes it sucks that Liam may never crawl or walk but I know now that Liam is the way he is. When I look at Liam the words that come to my mind are strength, love, purpose, courage and fight. Liam has amazing strength and because of his strength it gave Mark the strength to fight a little longer. Love- Liam is so a loved and has such love to give others. Purpose- Liam gave Mark and other people a purpose in life. Liam has such amazing courage to fight through all that he fights through which in turn gave mark the courage to fight a little longer.

Liam’s life verse that I gave him is Psalm 139:13-14 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” When I look at Liam I know he was created the way he was to impact people’s lives. He may only be 6 months old but he is stirring the hearts of the people around him. When I look at Liam I now know why his legs are messed up. It is to give people the courage to fight and to find purpose in life. I love Liam so much and if he affects people this greatly I wouldn’t want him any other way.

Liam, Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you. Because of your strength people’s lives are changing. We love you so much Liam.