“Letters to John Paul” is a compilation of letters from Elena Kilner to her son, John Paul, who was born with a terminal illness.
ELENA KILNER
Author, “Letters to John Paul”
“'Thursday May 10th 2012.' Dear John Paul, I am writing to you again in the wee-hours of the morning, you look so peacefully quiet all snugged up the way your dad left you before you went to bed.”
She began writing letters about John Paul's journey to update her family and friends and with the hope that her son could read them one day. The letters were turned into a blog, and then into a published book.
The book has helped many families that are going through a similar situation, and reminds them that they are not alone, that God is always there.
ELENA KILNER
Author, “Letters to John Paul”
“John Paul, you have a beautiful purpose. The yolk of caring for you is light because with it comes a great opportunity to love and experience God's great desire for me to be with him in heaven someday.”
Throughout the journey, Elena's faith was strengthened. She mentions how she knew that even if some things didn't make sense on a human level, they made sense supernaturally, and that despite the joy, there was suffering and pain.
ELENA KILNER
Author, “Letters to John Paul”
“You may not feel like it right now, but you just hit the jackpot. It's been such a blessing to our family to have John Paul as part of our life, and even now that he's passed away, he's still very much influencing our family in decisions that we make, in our family culture, our family traditions.”
Elena says that uniting their suffering to Christ's on the cross allowed her and her family to deepen their faith. They were able to find meaning in their suffering.
She reminds parents who may be going through a similar situation that God is real, and that He is always there to support us, even in the midst of suffering.
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