My thoughts on Luke Jensen.

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It's quiet out here in the hinterland. There's a stillness broken only by the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves... our chimes softly sing their bright songs. Off in the distance, the coyote chorus takes up their tune.

I look out my home office windows, and see only the darkness... the darkness of the evening has descended much like the darkness of loss descended when I came to find out that Luke had left us to start his journey to the Lord.

There is no light to break the darkness, save the light that is there for us all; the light that was there for this most precious gift.

With the rest of my family, I spent several hours at Steve and Vikki's house today. The signs of Luke... the Lego kits, the Star Wars DVD's, the books... and a Bible were still there in the living room where he breathed his last, surrounded by those who loved him the most.

Luke wasn't with us all that long. But my memory of him will stay with me forever. His lessons to me about courage and faith will stand the test of time. The strength of Steve and Vikki has also provided me a lesson as to what it is to be truly strong in the face of almost unspeakable adversity.

I will miss Luke as long as I live. And I will never forget his unstinting belief that for him, Heaven was his ultimate destination; and for the rest of us the sure and certain knowledge that there is no more deserving soul than than the one he was fortunate to possess.

I face unpleasant and difficult battles ahead in my professional realm. But compared to the battles Luke and his family faced, they will be mere fender-benders in comparison; the rough and tumble of what I do, the odd bump and bruise compared to the fire fights of courage and faith that were every day of the last 3 years of Luke's life for him and his family.

Where he is now, there is no pain... no cancer... no tears. There is safety, and warmth and love. And I can think of no one who deserves it more.

I will miss him, and I will never forget him.

Pray for Luke. Remember him.
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Luke Jensen, my beautiful 9 y.o. cousin, is with us no more.

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He went to be with his Lord this morning at 10:45 a.m.

This was the Caring Bridge notification:

Luke is with Jesus now.

He stepped through the door, into heaven and God's arms this morning at 10:45. Our beautiful, son, so strong, smart, passionate, hilarious, sensitive, honest, loving... He is safely in the arms of our Lord, so Strong, so Loving, so Faithful, so Good.

November 28, 2000 - >>>>

[This will certainly not be our last journal entry, but it's all I have to say today.
It's time to be with family.]

1 Corinthians 15
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. s We shall not all sleep, t but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For u the
trumpet will sound, and v the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be
changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, andw this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

x “Death is swallowed up in victory.”55 y “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and z the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, a who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have some particular upset with the Lord right this second, but now is not the time.

I will remember you, Luke. Always. I hope anyone and everyone reading this remembers you as well.
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The rare ask: Please pray for Luke Jensen, my 9 year old cousin who doesn't have much time left (Update 14)

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A quiet day.

I'm enjoying watching Tom and Jerry right now, if only because I'm watching it with Luke. He's been very quiet these last few days, choosing to silently watch cartoons. Just when we think he's asleep, and we try to turn down the volume or (foolishly) change the channel, he will open his eyes and change things back with the remote. He wants the cartoons on, and his family close -- but not too close. When Vikki or I try to crawl into his bed next to him, he may be tolerant for awhile, but (with a wave of his hand and a look in his eyes) will eventually kick us out each time. We keep trying.

....

Yesterday morning we brought Luke up to Doernbecher for a transfusion. We didn't want to waste the whole precious day there, so we only got platelets. This should help for those ongoing nose bleeds Luke has been having. Since he didn't receive red cells (his hemo counts were more borderline and only declining slowly), we were able to come home by lunch time.

...

Steve

Remember Luke.
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The rare ask: Please pray for Luke Jensen, my 9 year old cousin who doesn't have much time left (Update 13) Fundraiser from his Facebook.

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Upcoming event

To members of Support for the Jensen Family

Ty Christian May 3 at 12:28pm Reply

Here is another upcoming event to help the Jensen family.

Hi Ty - my name is Cheryl Jones and I am a friend of Vikki Jensen's. I also oversee the Relay For Life of North Clark County and work for the American Cancer Society. The Jensen family has become a big part of our Relay community over the last 3 years and our Relay teams are wanting to do something to help them during this difficult time.

We are planning a bingo fundraiser on Saturday May 15th from 3-7pm in the Daybreak School commons (corner of 20th Ave and 239th St in Battle Ground). Bingo cards will be $5 for a pack of 10 and people can buy more all night long! We are working on providing a dinner as well - maybe something like hot dogs, chips and a drink for $3. Also if anyone wants to bring baked goods to sell that would take care of dessert!

What I need your help with is getting the word out. Can you send this info to everyone on the Support For the Jensen Family page? We want this this to be the biggest fundraiser yet!

Obviously all the money raised will go to the Jensen family, so bingo winners won't win cash - but prizes, and we also need help collecting those prizes. So if anyone would like to donate prizes for this fundraiser we would be very grateful!! We need prizes of all caliber - from silly to super! We also need gifts that kids can win as well. And if there is anyone who lives outside of the Portland/Vancouver area who wants to donate prizes, or cash so we can purchase prizes that would be fantastic! They can contact me at my office: cheryl.jones@cancer.org or 503-795-3971

And thank you all in advance... I feel truly blessed to be a part of such a wonderful community!

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The rare ask: Please pray for Luke Jensen, my 9 year old cousin who doesn't have much time left. (Update 12) "Our time with Luke is running short"

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It's almost over.

"I feel like," Luke said, "if there's a war, that we've already lost the war. But that's okay. We've already won it two times. I'm not afraid anymore."

"What's that mean?" I asked.

"Cancer. We've lost the war against cancer."

"Right. But what does that mean for you, Buddy?"

"Heaven."

"That's right, Buddy. And it's just like stepping through the door to go outside. You'll just step through the door and you'll be in Jesus' arms." [My voice broke before I could complete that thought.]

.....

It is very apparent that our time with Luke is running short. For now, we will remain at his side.

In tears,

Steve

There isn't much time.

I've just heard that Luke has said "I have seen the gates of Heaven and they are open for me."

He is not afraid.

When this is done, I will set up a blogspot for Luke that will stand for all time as another memorial to this little boy, who will have been with us for far too short of a time.

I will go to it at least once a day, as a reminder of pure innocence. As a reminder to try and not allow the anger and the rage I feel over our politics to consume me.

Luke has at least taught me that. And for as long as I live, I will try and remember the lesson that is Luke Jensen.
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