Cheryl Lynn was our brown-eyed, blonde-haired five-year old. She was sandwiched comfortably (or uncomfortably) between her two brown-eyed, blond-haired brothers. Larry was six and Bevan was two. A son, a daughter, a son — perfect!

On top of that, it was springtime in our home city of Philadelphia. We had moved from Bucks County to Philadelphia. Dogwood trees blossomed. April showers coaxed the green carpet of grass. Early flowers decorated the lawns with vivid colors. Cheryl captured some of her springtime fantasies on paper. Each day in kindergarten she unveiled her dreams through her drawings and coloring.

In our home her sweet smile and dancing eyes added excitement and sparkle to the family. She loved to sing, and her bell-like voice could be heard throughout the house. She sang frequently in public from the age of four. Sometimes she sang solos. At other times she and her brother Larry sang duets. One of her favorite solos was "His Eyes Is On The Sparrow" with a special verse written for her by her daddy:

Though I may be so little,
Though I may be so small,
Though I may be real tiny,
And not so very tall,

Yet of one thing I’m certain,
I tell it now to thee,
If Jesus sees the sparrow,
Then I know He must see me.

At a spring rally when she was five, Cheryl sang another favorite of hers. It was called "Maranatha" which means "the Lord cometh!"

Maranatha! Maranatha!
Hope of all the blood-bought throng.
Maranatha! Maranatha!
Is the theme of this our song.
Coming soon the Savior
Whom we long to see,
Maranatha chimes
Keep ringing melody.

She would then sing the chorus:

Oh, Lord Jesus, how long?
How long ere we shout that glad song?
Christ returneth! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Amen.

There was no mistaking her love for the Lord Jesus. Before she started kindergarten she knelt with us and prayed. In her own child-like way she received Jesus Christ as her Savior. Skeptics would say that it was not real, but Jesus had said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:14). Time would yet reveal the sincerity and genuineness of Cheryl’s simple trust. Even skeptics would stand in awe.

Cheryl was several months into kindergarten when she complained of feeling ill. She missed a number of days at school. The doctor said it was a virus and would pass. His prediction seemed to come true and Cheryl returned to school. But before long she was sick again with a low temperature and a pain in her side. The doctor suspected it was her spleen and treated her accordingly.

Wednesday evening, May 3, 1962, Cheryl developed severe abdominal pains. We called the doctor and he admitted her to the Frankford hospital. The following morning they took some tests, a blood count and some x-rays. An operation was imperative. The doctor told us the operation might take several hours or only a few minutes depending on what they would find.

A close Christian friend who was a very fine nurse offered to come to the hospital and "special" for Cheryl. What a blessing that was!

Friday morning, May 5, Cheryl was wheeled out of the ward and up to the operating room. The reading in "Streams in the Desert" that morning had quoted Job 5:18: "For He makes sore and binds up! He wounds and His hands make whole!" Our daughter was in God’s hands.

Shortly after eleven o’clock Cheryl was wheeled out of the operating room to the recovery room. Ten minutes later the doctor came and said, "Her future isn’t too bright. Your daughter had a tumor larger than a grapefruit on the kidney. We had to remove the kidney along with the tumor." He could not tell us if the tumor was malignant or benign. We would have to wait for the tests to be completed.

That afternoon and evening Cheryl kept begging to go home with us. It was difficult to tear ourselves away as she clasped her hands around our necks and pleaded "Don’t go! Please take me home with you!"

The next day it was the same pleading. "Please take me home!"

"Sweetheart," we asked, "is there anything you would really like?" We were trying desperately to get her mind on something else.

"Yes," she answered quickly. "I would love a Chatty-Cathy doll." She had wanted the doll for Christmas but we had not been able to afford it.

"We’ll try to get you a Chatty-Cathy," we promised. Earlier that day eleven dollars had come in the mail for Cheryl. It would be enough to buy the doll.

"We’ll bring the doll on Sunday if you promise not to cry when we leave."

"I promise," she said, fighting back the tears.

On Sunday afternoon when we walked into the children’s ward, Cheryl was propped up with a pillow. Her eyes brightened when she saw us. Her arms reached out eagerly when she noticed the large package we carried. Excitedly she opened it and removed Chatty-Cathy from the wrappings. The friends who sent that money never dreamed of the thrill of that moment as she held the doll in her arms.

That evening in a letter to Cheryl’s grandparents (the letters have been kept and treasured through the years), we wrote:

"We are grateful for the progress in Cheryl’s recovery from the operation. It has been amazing to everyone. Her future is entirely in the Lord’s hands. The Lord has already brought us face to face with the possibility of her home going, but we rest on the promises He has given and we are fully resigned to His will. What would we do without our Savior?"

Wednesday, May 10. It was almost a week since the operation. We had not received the report concerning the tumor. Each time the phone rang we dreaded to answer fearing it might be bad news. Were we really afraid? Yes. But did the Lord not say, "Fear not!" As a matter of fact, it has been determined that there are at least 365 "fear nots" in the Bible, one for every day of the year.

Ironically that very evening I was scheduled to speak at a Mother and Daughter Banquet. Months before (even before Cheryl became ill) I had been asked what my topic for the evening would be. I answered, "Fear not!"

How could I tell others not to fear if I could not appropriate it in my own life? I cried to the Lord. I told Him my fears. He understood. He did more than that. He flooded my soul with His peace. He took my fears. I went to the banquet and spoke that evening. I had perfect peace. I was experiencing God’s "Fear not!"

After the banquet my husband came to pick me up. As he walked toward me I sensed he had something to tell me. "The doctor called this evening," he said. God’s peace still flooded my heart. Then he continued, "The tumor was malignant." Cheryl had cancer! Strangely, the fear that had gripped me earlier did not repossess me. God’s peace continued to fill my entire being.

The diagnosis was a Wilms tumor, quite rare, but found to be in some children usually around the ages of four or five.

Sunday, May 14. It was Mother’s Day. Cheryl came home from the hospital. It was the best gift I could have received. What joy there was in our home!

In the days that followed, Cheryl’s appetite improved. The doctors were amazed at her progress. She continued to receive radiation.

In another letter to Cheryl’s grandparents we wrote:

"We have asked the Lord to restore Cheryl to health only if she will be to the praise of His glory in service for Him. God can make her as healthy with one kidney as with two if it is His will. People from several churches have had a prayer chain, remembering Cheryl. God is able! He has already done exceeding abundantly above all that we asked or thought in her speedy recovery. Cheryl has received more than seventy cards already and she is so thrilled with them."

Wednesday, May 31. Cheryl had a relapse. She was rushed to the hospital in severe pain. She was operated on that morning.

In the evening we wrote the following letter:

"Just before the doctor came down from the operating room, one of the nurses asked if we wanted some coffee. Then the doctor came and told us that the malignancy had spread to the blood vessels and that it was opening the cell linings. Cheryl was bleeding internally and blood clots were forming. There was one large clot which had been causing the pain. This they removed, but others were forming in other parts. The doctor said he had never seen anything spread so fast. He said they tried to seal off the other open bleedings, but that new ones would form. He said if one of these clots got into an artery, death would be instant. Otherwise it would be about twenty-four hours.

"The nurse began to cry. But the Lord sustained us and we told the doctor that we had given Cheryl to the Lord. He had let us have her for five years, and now He knew what was best. It was a joy to witness to him. The nurse later told us she was a Christian, too. She said that our testimony had made quite an impression on the doctor. We pray that God will continue to work in his heart.

"Somehow when it comes to parting with a loved one, you feel so helpless and so dependent upon God. He has been so precious to us. If it were not for the prayers of loved ones I am afraid we would have gone under.

"We have come close to the valley, and have resigned ourselves to Cheryl’s home going. I think we have felt somewhat like Abraham must have felt when God asked him for his child. We have given Cheryl to the Lord."

It seemed as if that particular Wednesday would never end. Cheryl hovered between life and death. She was on intravenous feeding. Our hearts went out to her as she lay motionless on her bed.

Late in the afternoon the doctors ordered the intravenous feeding to be stopped. They felt it was only prolonging the pain. We expected Cheryl to go quickly, but amazingly she rallied and began to pick up strength. She immediately became more alert.

On Thursday morning she asked for water and throughout the day she was given liquids which she was able to keep down. On Friday she started eating solids. The doctors were baffled. The chief surgeon said, "I’ve been a liar before."

Tuesday, June 5. Cheryl came home from the hospital again. We wrote the following letter:

"Cheryl is so happy to be home. She is walking around and eats at the table with us. She has occasional pain. We leave her in God’s hands. The doctors have gone as far as they can. To them the case is hopeless.

"God could perform a miracle to His glory, but we want only His perfect will. We don’t want her to suffer, and we pray God will perform what is best. The Lord has made our hearts very tender lately."

Thursday, June 14. Cheryl’s pain had increased. The doctor prescribed medicine for sedation to be administered every three hours.

We wrote:

"Cheryl has been talking so much about Heaven and Jesus. She longs to go. Yesterday when we asked her what she wanted more than anything else, she replied, ‘I want to go to Heaven.’

"She loves her Savior and longs to be with Him. While our hearts ache at the thought of missing her, we would not deny her the great joy of being at home with Christ. She has had so much suffering and her body is so weak and thin.

"She is constantly asking us to be with her, and she wants to be held. We are keeping her here at home since the doctor thinks it is better for her. We now wait for the easing of her pain and her stepping across the Jordan. How we wish we could go with her, but we must wait the day until He sees fit to promote us to Glory.

"Yesterday when the doctor examined Cheryl he found that the cancer had spread to her bones and joints. Her knees are extremely sensitive and sore. It hurts her to move. She is on codeine. It is amazing how it relieves pain.

"Thank you for your continued prayers. Pray that God will take this sweetheart Home if it is His will."

 

Sunday, June 17. It was Father’s Day. Cheryl sang some songs especially for her daddy, and we taped them while he was at church. Her voice was weak but so sweet.

Days passed. Cheryl’s stomach became larger. She began to have trouble keeping food down. Once again she was taken to the hospital. The doctors administered various treatments including a blood transfusion. Then, home again.

Thursday, July 5. We wrote the following letter to our parents:

"‘My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Praise God for His promise! Day by day the Lord is proving Himself faithful. What would we do without Him?

"Cheryl has to have a blood count every three days. She also has to have three x-ray treatments a week. She has been in the hospital a total of 29 days of the 30 days for which we have hospitalization coverage.

"The instructor of first, second and third-year student nurses approached us and asked if she could use Cheryl’s case and charts in her classes. She had observed that Cheryl was cheerful in her illness and cooperative in all the treatments. The nurse wondered how we had prepared Cheryl to face an illness like this. We said that before Cheryl had become sick she had invited the Lord Jesus to be her Savior and forgive her sins. Then when she became ill we had talked with her about Heaven and how there would not be any pain there. Cheryl had told us that she wanted to go to Heaven to be with Jesus.

"We explained to the instructor of nurses that this wasn’t fantasy and that we believed exactly what we had told our daughter.

"‘Well,’ the instructor said, ‘she is a wonderful little girl. When she is in the ward she is like a mother hen and takes all the other children under her wing. She doesn’t seem to think about her own problems, but always tries to help others.’

"Then the instructor asked for pictures of Cheryl from birth to the present to share with her students.

"When Cheryl was discharged from the hospital this last time there were four doctors actively involved in her case. Besides that there were the two doctors who administered the x-ray treatments. They are all fine men.

"Larry prayed the other day, ‘Help Cheryl to get better and help the pain to go away. Help her to arise!’

"Claire preached at Hermon Presbyterian Church on Sunday evening. He spoke on the Waters of Marah (bitterness) and then he ended with the experience of the Israelites at Elim where God blessed. We are looking to the Lord for the Elim that we know He has in store for us. His promises are certain. He will fulfill them in His own time and way."

Days dragged by as we continued to wait on God. The phone rang frequently as friends called to ask about our daughter. They offered their assistance and assured us of their prayers. How we thanked God for such faithful friends.

One day Grandpa Buhler phoned from far-away Canada where they lived. Cheryl wanted to talk to him. "Grandpa, guess what?" she said. "I’m going to see Jesus."

Our hearts pounded.

Grandpa answered, "You say ‘Hello’ to Him for me, will you?"

"Yes, I will, Grandpa."

What an encouragement it was to have Grandma and Grandpa Greiner and Grandma and Grandpa Buhler praying daily for their beloved granddaughter. They also wrote letters of trust and concern and encouragement. Our hearts were lifted time and time again through the quotations of Scripture they included in each letter.

One day Cheryl, after playing for a few moments with her favorite dolls, laid them aside. "I don’t like it down here anymore," she said with a far-away look in her eyes. "I just wish Jesus would come today, or tomorrow. But it doesn’t really matter. It won’t be very long to wait."

As her daddy picked her up she whispered, "Will you still be my daddy in Heaven?"

"You will always be my sweetheart," he assured her. She rested content in his arms.

Monday, July 23. Cheryl was extremely uncomfortable. It had been more than a month since she had walked and she wanted us to be with her every moment. Claire brought his work upstairs so he could be beside her. I was there, too.

Claire started a letter to his parents:

"Cheryl has taken a turn for the worse. Whether it is the x-ray therapy we do not know, but she has dropped fast. She hasn’t eaten or taken any liquids since Saturday. She is much weaker. Her eyes are sunken in and she is nothing but skin and bone. You wouldn’t recognize her. Our hearts really ache as we watch her.

"She is too weak to move her head by herself. She does not smile much anymore. But she doesn’t complain."

As Claire wrote the letter, I knelt beside her bed and said, "Cheryl, Jesus might come for you today. Would you like to go to Heaven?"

Cheryl smiled weakly.

Three-year-old Bevan was listening and piped up, "Bevan want to see Jesus too."

"Heaven is a wonderful place," I went on to say. "There is no night there and no sickness. There is no pain. No more needles. No x-rays. Everything is beautiful. The street is made of gold and there is singing and happiness all the time. Best of all, Jesus is there and He is your best friend."

Again she managed a faint smile.

Early in the afternoon we noticed that Cheryl was becoming more restless. She wanted to lie on our bed, but that did not give her relief. Then she tried the large soft chair in the living room. But that did not help. Then she wanted to sit on our laps but that did not comfort her. Finally we carried her back to her own bed where she seemed to be most satisfied.

In his letter to his parents, Claire described the events of the afternoon:

"The pressure in Cheryl’s stomach increased. She kept asking if we could do something. We felt so helpless. We loved her and talked of Heaven.

"About five-thirty, Cheryl’s hands and feet started to get cold, and she said she could not breathe. We called the doctor. He told us to phone the Rescue Squad immediately, which we did. Shortly before the Rescue Squad arrived Cheryl had stopped speaking. We knelt close beside her, loving her for the last time on earth. We told her she would soon see Jesus. We asked her if she wanted to go to Heaven. She was so weak but managed a light nod of her head. Her hand went limp. Her head slumped to the side. She was Home! We thank the Lord for relieving her of her suffering.

"The doorbell rang. The Rescue Squad had arrived. They took Cheryl to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. As we stood waiting for the doctor, one of the men from the Squad spoke words of encouragement to us. He was a Christian. The Lord had placed him there to encourage our hearts.

"Mother and Dad, you and the Buhlers have been such an encouragement to us and to your grandchildren. You have trained us to be ready for such shocks as this. If it weren’t for the training I had in life I think I would have gone to pieces. Ruth, too, has been such a help. She has been very brave. Naturally the ache of loneliness is severe and especially for the mother who brought the child into the world. Since Cheryl was our only girl, Ruth had taken such pride in her. But she has been so courageous.

"Our hearts are lonely but we rejoice that God has eased Cheryl’s burden and made her part of the redeemed in Heaven. This makes Heaven very near to our hearts. How we long for the day when we too shall be called home.

"The funeral is on Thursday. Rev. Weiss will be in charge. God is our strength and we don’t ask for sympathy. Rather rejoice with us that God chose our child to get to Heaven first before us. She’ll be there to welcome us all to glory! What a day that will be!"

Yes, Cheryl was gone. But she was completely whole. She now possessed immortality. She would never again experience pain.

The faith my husband manifested throughout his letters has been maintained through the years. There has been no bitterness, only restful trust. What an asset in the adversities of life when both husband and wife belong to the same Lord and yield to His perfect will.

Who can lift our hearts in the hour of grief? Who can administer balm to the aching heart? Who can sustain us when we part with loved ones at the edge of the Valley? God! Who else?

                                                       AT HOME

She’s seen God’s face, O wondrous thought,
She’s touched her Father’s hand,
She’s stood before His glorious throne,
She’s viewed the glory land.

Her lips have spoken words of love
To Christ her Lord and King;
She’s knelt in worship at His feet,
She’s heard the angels sing.

She’s greeted saints from ages past
And loved ones gone before,
She knows no pain or weariness,
No night on Heaven’s shore.

And now with all the ransomed ones
She waits for that glad day
When Christ will break the eastern sky
To catch His bride away.

She’ll rush to greet the raptured ones
As through the sky they soar,
And in that land of endless day
We’ll live to part no more.

—W. Claire Greiner