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June 1, 2021 2:00 am
In the midst of Christmas preparations for church and wrapping presents, Levi and Jennie Lusko tragically lost their five-year-old daughter. They share with Dave and Ann Wilson how God graciously lit their path to healing.
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I want to find out if you ever listen to my sermons course I did 30 years of service.
Yes, there's one I memorize.
I can see if you can finish this line again. Trials can make you better or better there you go there's another part to it tries to make you better better ceiling that he got half of the choice is yours. Welcome to family life today where we want to help you pursue the relationships that matter most time and Wilson and Andre Wilson and you can find us if it we live today.com or on our family life. This is family life today so yeah when pain or adversity, you know, enters your life you have Joyce and all of us will have pain and adversity into being a Detroit Lions chaplain for 33 seasons. I knew a lot about pain and loss.
Anyway, we got a couple with us today. Levi Jenny Lesko who written a book you mean your pastor looks at several books, but pastors of first life church in Montana and Utah and Wyoming and who oh who knows if I other states.
I finally got half of because God is really blesses thing. But you wrote a book about a painful, excruciating moment in your life as you are starting first life church. I guess you wrote for five years old, in the church through the eyes of a lion. Welcome back to family like today guys. Thank you so much for having us and my family grew up in Detroit actually both my mom and my data from Lansing and yet so he moved to Colorado later on in life works.
Browse born and he told me my whole life. I'm raising you as a Broncos fan because I don't want you to have the pain of that I did cheering for the Detroit Lions so I smart man, but he still did cheer on the Isaiah Thomas is the best the Pistons. They go so definitely got some Detroit love there will take us back to 2012 your fleeting fresh life church and its December and consider growing. You have four kids. Things are going really well yeah what we like to say is as if I was the best of and the worst of times. At the same time because that year was a year of growth for our church.
We are multiplying in your people were getting saved, and we were taking our ministry on the road with tours no evangelistic tours around the country and in our own lives to like. I remember specifically just in my own life mount, so I thought God was just growling me and growing us in our marriage, and it was just as the year of growth.
However, your kids, then Olivia have less 775 and then Daisy is an overwhelming one.
Almost 1 they were bunched and right there at the bottom yet beautiful I mean lots of fun. We have always had a real fun family life, not to shut out your show but beyond just church like we always family days and I've always love being a daddy to little girls and you know daddy daughter date nights and fun family days and all the girls as they got older. You take them on trips, preaching tracks and you guys just taken my second born daughter Linda on her for our daughter on her first daddy daughter trip to Disneyland and and then we started our tradition that we still continued every year except for 2020 and that is would always take our family vacation on Easter Sunday so we finished preaching our last service and then get on a plane to go somewhere and turn off my phone and email not work. The whole trip and you know so all this was like the best.
We are establishing these great rhythms and then on Christmas 2012 when you whose mice are second born had had an asthma attack and I find it for Christmas and she just stopped breathing and it was inexplicable out of the normal sheet had a lot asthma attacks mean but normally takes medicine breeds veterans fine. Levi has asthma and oldest asthma to normal part of my life and she just stopped breathing and starts turning blue. I did CPR. Jenny called 911.
We were praying obviously and you in just a matter of moments. She went from being here to not being here because I care for second late. This is the most traumatic thing in the greatest fear every parent has in your ear living and as she's turning blue like Jenny, are you just are you so fearful you think that this think she could diary thinking are you thinking all it'll be okay while I thought she would be a pastor. We had just finished a date night our date nights run Thursdays as kind of I read them in the family days are on Fridays and so we just finished our date night we came to my moms house pulled that and literally in that moment, we are just saying how are so excited for family day had an email link for Christmas break church is just crazy for anyone. It's crazy but we just had our schedules pack that weeks all week there like okay guys it's crazy now that working half Friday family day and ready to go ice skating and have a fancy family dinner and Leah has been tickling you to go Christmas shopping for her sisters and and so we went into date night just like okay we just need this, we need time together and then were going to be at the kids and so we well that's my mom's house literally lead islands like I just feel so relaxed right now and that's how well my sermon that day so we were ready and fresh like Christmas. We are ready for Christmas as a family and we are going our plan. One of the girls Christmas presents is taking them to Disneyland. We are getting ready for that right after this the day after Christmas – is where the day we end up having her funeral so I walk in my moms trying to get her treatment that she wasn't taking it. She sitting on the counter and she looks at me and then I'm trying to get it to her because she's obviously not taking or not. She's not doing very well and she just passes out on the kitchen counter and later had parked the car and he ran. He immediately started doing CPR and she had allergies so did she.
Anything like this are allergic reaction and in self he just starts with CPR we call the paramedics and the whole time. In that moment. I'm just praying. I'm sick and I'm crying out to God and I'm saying run yes okay yes okay it's going to be okay. Meanwhile, Olivia seven time and then the little ones.
They're all in the other room, but the paramedics come in and Levi does with her. They take her away and then I'm with the other girls in the other room I'm holding on and I literally I'm not thinking that she has died and not thinking that I just said goodbye to her like I'm not thinking those things I'm literally thinking it can be a pain. It's going to be okay has to be okay and then my brother drives me to the hospital where I Levi and I are sitting in that little waiting room and the doctor comes in literally is just so shocking because we were just planning for Christmas he just worked so hard Christmas message. We are just preparing for family like we were's like the July of that was like just get a moment, to Paris and then all of a sudden hearing what no parent wants here but no one wants to hear or is in their nightmares and he says and says sorry Mr. Mrs. Lesko. There's nothing more that we can deal and then literally is like you want us to keep working on her while you walk in and were like what it's like we are just in shock and so they bring us in a stress the hardest thing is terrible. Ever.
And so we walk in and she's laying there and I are on automatic response. Obviously, we were just in shock and crying and automatic response that was Levi was on the other side of her and I'm just looking at her and we told one of her hands and it is almost immediate and we haven't even think we knew what we are doing that we just raised our other hands and we are just saying God you gave us line yeah and we get her back to you and there is just that moment of like worshiping in the weeping and acknowledging God in the heart ache and heartbreak and the shock and the terror and the horrors and mean even just looking back is like I haven't even know you know how that how we did it. I don't know but God was there with us in our deepest pain. Yeah me that image of you with their arms is not what you would expect the parent to be able to do in that darkness like you just how in the world was that your response. A lot of work in my mind in that moment was Linda's baby dedication, we dedicated her to God as parents early on in the note of our church. We bring parents up in the seventh stage and hold the baby and the pastor there they say were to recognize God in this child's life as long as they're here and that babies are on loan their gifts from God were to be stewards, not owners. I think that's what so freaking about tithing you know you're saying were stewards of this money not owners who got it how we uses money so your light touch on money because the tithe helps to pry your fingers open baby dedication similar because you're essentially saying this is my child this is God's child, and I want to raise this child to know Jesus and what I remember seeing her in the hospital that was one of the first images the popped in my head and I remember we were praying he said God we we dedicated her to you when you gave her to us and now we give her back to use you taken her home. I don't want to make it sound like we were in a movie.
We weren't like super human in our faith. We are broken and we were devastated and we were suffering and we were in agony, but I can also say that God gave us peace that passes understanding, and we in the midst of the agony felt a true sense of it's going to be okay. I got here with you through this. You walk out to your car the worst yeah it was hard we looked at the empty car seat. We looked you know, and it was all the timing of it is also capriciously means is no good day to lose a child, but to have gifts under the Christmas tree with her name on them talking was on the fireplace. There's a million things about it that were just so cruel to rotate to have a child die is like having memories taken from you that you've already thought about and enjoyed.
So you almost feel like there are yours than having them snatch from you, you know, can you fantasize about your child's high school graduation walking them down the aisle so many benchmarks you know to this day in our pantry. There's all of our kids have little tick marks with the date by him and Lynn is stop this right that you look at all everyone's getting older, but her and so all that's in your mind when you look in the rearview mirror and you see an empty car seat and so we looked at that and we just thought this is not happening at the same time. Again, it's like a split screen because Jen then Jenny reminded me that we should go back and invite the people in the hospital to church. Jenny, how does that happen is right outside the hospital visiting on the outside. You just left the hospital and Jenny said Levi you have to go. I had Artie shifted to reverse your whole and you need to go back invites people to church and it was just natural is just part of art are rhythms like you know you you'll build a church by telling people to invite their friends. You build the church by inviting everybody that you meet to come to church. It's not weird or icky evangelism. It's just like natural overflow of we seen Jesus we want to tell people about Jesus. And so we always have little cards or invites, we could use to my people now assume a website or Instagram right but we would say hey, church on Sunday. You know and and so on.
Even both living in line you had little purses that they would always treasure's and after she went to heaven.
We found onions purse and she had her little mini Bible and she had invitations to fresh like Christmas and bracelets that was who we were as a family like even line yeah like sheet. We would get the grocery store and she would be like mom getting invited to church like she was always inviting people and that was kind of who she was, but it is who we were as a family tale itself. I don't know exactly what came over me. All I know. I knew we had spent how long we were in the room with line yeah that I know that it was the hardest thing to leave because were walking out and we should have been carrying her with us. We should have been like she was supposed to come with us and so leaving the room and leaving the hospital and our daughters were ending. They were all asleep there in the car but just looking back in and singling is as empty. I don't know I had invitations in the car because even going to the drive through whatever religious always size like those people just were there for us on her worst day like we just need invite them to come to church and so Levi went and invited them was crying and I was a hot mess. But I said thank you for you. Everything in said rubbing Christmas services and would love to invite you to come and I said I spent all day working on a message and this all happened. You know, but if you come I'm still going to be there.
If you is would come in my daughter's honor I would love to have you and several of them did an upcoming which is beautiful and even we heard afterward. Some of them made faith decisions, which is just fantastic to decide how God does. God takes the hard things we go through and he uses them for good right if you don't get better if you veteran you none of us gets to choose what we face but we all get to choose how to respond to while as I listen to you guys but I think is all those things happen because it was a natural overflow of how God already filled you like you are filled with him. You're filled with his spirit.
And so even though you're the most devastating experience that you could ever walk through your still filled with cannons that Jesus always has his eyes on his people and he's always loving them, and even your responsive worship in the midst of suffering and pain is just you know who your father is and you trust him. That says a lot about your walk with God and your perspective of how much he loves you and he loves your girls that was almost a supernatural experience and it reminds me of hearing Tony Evans years ago when I was in my 20s I think and he talked about building our foundation, and you say something like this in your book that he said you don't see people pouring the foundation in the middle of the storm there building the foundation when the skies are clear because when the storm comes later.
The foundation will yeah last year you had a trade for the trial you're not yet in yes that's the thing I love how you said that. But I don't think you ever know when you're in the season when you're in a potentially doing was foolish or wise Jesus and when the storms come you find out if it's in the rock, and so were all right now. Determining how were going to respond to our darkest day right so you know, dad. I'm a pastor I'm not sure I could preach after that. That Christmas you know that they could be very easy to say going to take this year people would understand so talk about that. Did you how are you able to preach and did you write did you write a new message. What was it the message Artie wrote well you your call, I spent the day writing that sermon and I know I would say this I don't want to be really careful because I don't think there's any value in playing her or faking mine is my friend Esther Allen likes to say she wrote the book. No more faking five so there's definitely nothing noble about.
I pulled my hamstring, but I'm a key player you can do severe injury if you do that. So this disclaimer, and I did take time off. I took a month off preaching. After that weekend, but I felt like a who's adrenaline and instinct.
I didn't know any other way through it than that it was wrote the sermon by Wade honor. I promise his people the hospital so there was really never any question that I was going to.
I tweaked the ending of the message and works of course the conquering of death into the story, which is the point of Christmas and getting up and in doing I think was my gift to me getting out. Most kids have the obligation of stewarding their parents legacy God gave us the backward responsibility of honoring on stewarding our daughters legacy and so we just have come from the beginning intended to not miss a moment in that journey who I know the title. I don't know the contents of your message, but I think it was turn off the dark veteran weather that made Jesus in John chapter 1 is the light of the world that always thought about you turn on a light, so if you turn on light you turning off dark and the action of turning off the dark, which was inspired by the Spider-Man Broadway play was this epiphany that when Jesus came Christmas. It was God's attempt to turn off darkness and so that was what I had spent the whole day, writing, and you know how it is when when you get a good idea, works you set eureka moment of Archimedes in the bathtub.
Are you almost ready to run through the streets naked just so excited about your sermon that you wrote and it doesn't always happen, but when it does come in that bolt of inspiration is wonderful and that was how the sermon was given to me and so it was all kind of full circle. There was 3000 people in the church at the point, but think success we will came to the Christmas Eve service and knows it was amazing to get honor Jesus and my daughter. In that moment finally know your perspective on you know we said at the beginning. Charles can make it better. Better in some ways it sounds so trite in this situation because yeah, when you have a flat tire or the meeting gets canceled.
Yeah they commit but when you're gone through the devastated and that you have talk about that. If there's families listening that have lost you know all a loved one may be of son or daughter or her spouse. How is it that God can meet you in that moment. How does he do that because you've experienced it always want to be really careful to not just you know coming with our experience and people hearing this could just you could feel so insensitive to say you know what you're to be fine is cosmic and you better and like you said, you know.
Give some sort of like Pat answer our experience, though, is that everything Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 has been proved in the in the fire. Blessed are the broken hearted, blessed you know, those who mourn, blessed are those who hunger will be filled. It will be comforted.
There's the kingdom of heaven. There is a reward and suffering and that reward is God does come near he's near to the broken hearted and a unique way. I really believe if you don't harden your heart if you open up your heart to God being there. There is a unique treasure that's available to you in the midst of suffering that is honestly in honor and I know how to say this any other way than this will just say it if I could have what God has given to us in the suffering without going through. I would still want it. I would want every good thing that he's given to us in this because it is so good and there is such a nearness of the spirit, and a depth that you can't get outside of being put into a crucible is what Paul said to the Philippians to you.
It's been entrusted with the grace of not only believing in Jesus, but to suffer for his name.
I could sound so cruel and US have been given the great gifts of suffering, but they would say you're right Paul, it is a gift to suffer for Jesus yeah it's hard though because we wish that she was still with us and I think that we don't want to say like I'll people give their lives to Christ, and since then all these people now know God's love and yes that is true and that's amazing. And that Billy Nesser and it's hurt so much and has been an even those especially this early days and then kind of randomly and sporadically after but where it's just that weight heavy on your chest where it's hard to breathe and you must have to like just trust God for the next breath. And yes, we believe that God has entrusted us with this pain that reciprocating.
It's as trusting hand in the little moments and trusting hand when it hurts so much and trusting hand that he's at work.
He himself said my my ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are higher than yours and so trusting hand that he is good and that he loves us, and then even just at his word when the Bible says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord so far worst day was actually a ring is glory glory. A day and so that tension even with that is like the suffering and the pain that we have experienced, but not for her, and that tension of knowing and hope that we have in Christ that one day you will not contact us and we won't get to experience her as a 13-year-old, and as a senior in high school and our daughters are growing up with the void of their sister. However, we have our hope in Christ we have the hope that because he placed our faith in Christ and because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and there's going to be a day where all of this. We won't even remember it because of the joy that will have when were with Jesus together face-to-face out. There's just always that tension of heartache and pain and anger but also the joy and then the privilege and honor to get you serve God in this way and to love God in this way and to Stuart this. Anyone who has experienced the kind of pain and suffering that Levi and Jenny talked about today with David and Wilson knows that a wound that takes time to heal him apart from God's grace that wound can become infected. Levi has written about the loss of their daughter Emma book called through the eyes of the law him facing impossible payment finding incredible power. We got that book in our family life today resource Center you can order it from us online@familylifetoday.com or you can call to order one 800, FL, today is the number in the title of the book is through the eyes of a lion facing impossible pain finding incredible power order unwanted family life today.com or call one 803 586-329-1800 F as in family L as in life and in the word today, we will take a minute today to say a great big thank you to so many of you who over the last month have gotten in touch with us either online or by phone and made generous donation to help support the ongoing ministry of family life today as many of you know there was a matching gift opportunity made available to us during the month of May and so many of you responded.
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We appreciate your support and we appreciate you joining us for this program each day and we hope we can be back with us again tomorrow. David and Wilson will continue conversation with Levi and Jenny Lesko talking about how God met them in the midst of pain.
They were experiencing when their daughter died unexpectedly. I hope you can tune in for that on behalf of our hosts David and Wilson on Bob Lapine. We will see you back tomorrow for another edition of family life today.
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