This summer (July 14^th, 2004) will mark four years since Joshua was born into eternal life. We can reflect on several aspects of Joshua’s life here on earth, and his life in heaven. From a strictly human perspective, Joshua’s life here on earth was way too short. For those that knew and loved Joshua, we will never forget him nor will we ever stop loving him.

It is still difficult to imagine life without Joshua being a part of it. But as I said before, this is from a human perspective. From a Godly perspective we are comforted to know that Joshua is in the presence of the Lord.  A place so wonderful we could not even begin to imagine what God has prepared for all of us.

The day Joshua left us, he only did so in a bodily way His spirit is as alive today as it was when he was born into the world.  For us, the only difference is that we cannot see his smiling, loving face; a face that continues to shine and smile in heaven. And a soul that continues to pray for all of us.

Because Joshua now sees heaven, he wants all of us to be with him in the presence of our Loving and Merciful God. For us who knew Joshua, he  continues to remain, and will always remain, a large part of our daily lives - both in memory and in his prayers for all of us.

Joshua’s life also teaches us how precious life is and how quickly it can end. We are not alone in losing someone that we have loved so deeply. All of us have lost loved ones in our lives.  Maybe it was a grandparent, a parent, a brother or sister, a child or even a close friend.

But no matter who it was, we will never forget  them as they continue to live in our hearts and  memories, we sometimes look for ways to keep these memories alive. One of the ways, which many people have done, is to plant a new tree in that person’s name.  It signifies that life has not ended but has begun to sprout in heaven.

With this in mind we are looking at ways of honoring the lives of those  who have passed on before us.  The Joshua House will set aside a special area on their grounds where we will plant trees to memorialize those individuals that have touched our lives.  If someone wants to memorialize a loved one with a tree, they can donate to the Joshua House and request a certain type of tree that we will plant.

We  will place a plaque at the base of the tree, honoring and remembering the loved one that has passed  into Eternal Life. These donations will not only help the Joshua House, but also provide an avenue of keeping alive the names of all  people that have impacted our lives. In doing so, we become one family in Christ, those alive in this world and those alive in Gods’ presence.

Currently the following deceased loved ones will be memorialized in The Joshua House Memorial Forest:

	Anne Martiniano		Margaret Pastori
	Baird Hershey Sr.		Marie Sykes
	Bertha Alfery		Mary Amelio
	George Outly		MaryAnn Haaz
	Reilly Patrick Smith

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