Noah's ARC (A Remarkable Community) Embrace

UPDATE: (post from Rachel and Nathan early this morning, Monday, October 23, 2023)

Noah fought so very hard but his body could not sustain the fight any longer. Our beloved son is in the embrace of our Heavenly Father - probably asking him one million questions about everything he’s always wanted to understand.

He is healed. He is whole. He is free from all pain and suffering.

Note: I specifically asked yesterday if the family needed anything - it was on my heart to start a gofundme to offset medical expenses. They said YES, they so much would appreciate. In addition, I am asking that your donation include help with funeral expenses in a way to celebrate the life of their beloved son, Noah.

Please lift Nate, Rach, and their family up during this time of grief.

UPDATE (Monday, October 23, 2023 4:30 pm)

MEMORIES OF NOAH GREENFIELD

The Greenfield family would be so grateful if you shared any (pictures, memories, scripture, verses prayers, and words of encouragement) to the below email address:

[email redacted]

UPDATE (Tuesday, Oct 24 1:30 AM)

From Rachel

One week ago today, I snapped this photo after having breakfast with Noah at one of his favorite places. I am shattered.

There is a pinned post at the top of my FB page here of all the ways you, our beloved community, can come around us in this time.

Please I beg of you if you have Noah stories, ways he has made a difference or impacted your life, silly stories about him, anything that is meaningful to you send it to this email address:

[email redacted]

I need these stories and I can see people are tagging me as you post your beautiful words and memories to your pages (and please please keep posting these precious words) but I can’t keep up and I so desperately want it in one place so I can print it

A celebration for his life will be planned for Saturday with details to come.

I am keeping my phone on airplane mode as much as I can. If you want/need info please reach out to Heather Johnson or Abigayle Muller Bowman - they are coordinating our care and I am communicating with them directly as needs big or small come.

I feel you. I feel your presence, your concern, your love, your grief. I know you are holding me in your arms no matter how far away you are. You are the most beautiful community of people and I know you are near.

God is close to the broken-hearted. He is ministering to our hearts as you continue to intercede on behalf of each one in our family- me, Nate, Mercy, Keziah, Radiance and Ellie.

UPDATE (Tues, Oct 24, 1:35 AM)

From Nathan

Hi Friends,

I am completely overwhelmed by ALL the outpouring of love and support we have received in the last 5 days, as we battled together for Noah's life. Thank you!

Thank you to each one of you who prayed for Noah in your homes, your churches, your small groups, your Bible studies and for the 100 of you who joined on Zoom last night for hours to intercede for Noah's life. I will be forever grateful.

At 1:40 am this morning, Noah went to be with Jesus in heaven. Our hearts are broken as life will never be the same again. I have grieved a 1000 times today, missing my boy like crazy.

However, deep in my soul, I know that my boy is fully restored. He is no longer in pain. He is whole. He is with Jesus.

UPDATE (Tues, Oct 24, 1:15 AM)

From Rachel

Tomorrow, Nathan and I will do the unimaginable. We will choose a casket for our beloved son and visit the ground in which his body will be buried.

The ache is so painful and the groans of our soul too deep for words, yet somehow I am supposed to find the words to write my son’s obituary. How can this be?

Please join us as we celebrate our Noah on Saturday. The service will be live-streamed for our loved ones who cannot join us in person (details with the link to come).

We are wrapped in the love of God as you continue to be His hands and feet and lavishly pour out your kindness and generosity on our family.

A million thank yous would never be enough ❤️

UPDATE (Thurs, Oct 26, 11:30 PM)

Everything is spinning around me and I am frozen wanting to rewind time before I stepped into this nightmare one week ago.

I thought he had the flu.

When I left to take him to ER last Thursday morning, never in my wildest imaginations could I have dreamed I would return home without him.

Someone from the funeral home just called to ask if they should cut his hair to match his photo. He hated having his hair cut and would go long stretches of it being shaggy and overgrown to avoid another cut. A few months ago, we had finally found someone he loved who was so patient with his sensitivities during the hair cutting process.

I’m trying to choose videos for a montage but how can I choose when every single photo and video is now sacred?

I’m so weary.

I’m so very sad.

I am crushed in every way. And I can say I have a steadiness that only comes from the comfort of Christ. I can sense His presence, I know he is carrying us.

Thank you for holding us in our brokenness. You can continue to find ways to support our family pinned to the top of my FB page. Your generosity through the Go Fund Me, Venmo, meals, etc is more than I can fathom.

Please continue sending memories of Noah to [email redacted]

I haven’t had the strength to open hundreds of messages yet but I know they will serve as a beautiful comfort in the days to come.

UPDATE (Friday, Oct 27, 12:30 PM)

From Rachel

I’m exhausted yet I don’t want to go to sleep.

Because when I wake up, it will be Friday, the day I will see the body of my first born child, my only son, in a casket.

And waking up tomorrow puts me one day closer to Saturday when his body will be buried underneath the ground. The day I will have to let his body go forever.

Yes, I know he is not in that body. He is alive in Christ and rejoicing in heaven as we grieve on earth.

But I loved his body. His precious body that was knit together and formed within my own. That grew into a 9lb 6oz baby boy and gave me stretch marks and horrible heartburn. I loved that body.

That body that slept on me as an infant, squeezed me tight as a toddler, and cuddled close as a preschooler. That body that loved to be near his Mommy. That body that grew into a gangly pre-teen and more recently, full blown man size, who had zero concept of a personal space bubble or the importance of deodorant.

That body that I held countless times as we cried together over the challenges he faced. That body that held his brilliant brain.

That body that, just two weeks ago, when he found me crying in my room, wrapped arms around me and told me that we were the luckiest family in the world to have me as the Mommy.

I love that body.

I don’t know how to walk through the next 48 hours… or beyond.

Saturday, Noah’s celebration of life will be live streamed at the attached link. (It will also be recorded). Whether you attend in person or on the live stream, join us in wearing shades of blue to honor Noah’s colorful, beautiful life.

UPDATE (Friday Oct 27 1:00 PM)

From Nathan

We are absolutely blown away at the love that our church, community, family and friends from around the world have given us in this last week. We will forever be grateful for you.

We would be honored to have you join us for Noah's celebration of life service. If you are not able to be in person, here is the link where you will be able to watch it live tomorrow, Saturday, October 28th at 10 am ET.

https://vimeo.com/event/3829359/2e3fb0fa5b

UPDATE: (Sat, Oct 28 11:30 PM) From Rachel

Until we meet again, I will make sure your legacy lives on. You’re story isn’t over my precious boy

Beloved friends, From the depths of my heart, thank you for loving my family so well in our darkest hour. If you joined us in person or online, thank you for the time you sacrificed to honor our Noah’s life. If you were not able to join the live stream, you can find the recording here:

https://vimeo.com/event/3829359/2e3fb0fa5b?fbclid=IwAR1XvW_2cfnMSg_KCfTldDIUqJj1toeww5MvDqDW7VCUMSg1z6id2Sxe3zY_aem_ARmdkH1F_CYs-WakLWtlJi7PcgtCbQCJEF9p6h8UBN2iufaOzdvNPgGhIBnVtoPsLtg&mibextid=9R9pXO

UPDATE (Sunday, Oct 29, 2:45 PM)

From Rachel’s mom, Elaine, Noah’s grandmother, whom grandkids know as Lainey.

I’m just lying in bed still not believing our Noah is gone.

I rewatched my daughter speaking at his funeral. I admire her so much.

I asked my son Jonathan to send me his speech. At the end he said it so perfectly and I wanted to let you read his words .

“Noah’s life ended all too early but his death will not be wasted. Make this your turning point. Noah loved to give gifts to people. In his tribute video, you could see Noah’s excitement at being a part of giving a kid with physical challenges a new wheelchair. The gift Noah is giving all of us today is the gift of clarity.

The clarity that very few things really matter, and the clarity that the thing that matters the most is what will we do with Jesus? Yes, everyone of us has or will go through pain and loss. The real question is, what or who will we turn toward in the middle of that pain?

You have to decide what you’ll do with this gift of clarity that Noah has provided for us. Like all gifts, you can receive it, or you can reject it.

As for us, every time our family has experienced pain God has used it to become a platform to glorify and lift up Jesus.

I can assure you that will be the case again. We WILL glorify Christ. And, hear me when I say this, we will continue to call Him healer, and I hope you will too.”

————

I love that sentence WE WILL CONTINUE TO CALL HIM HEALER!!!

And friends this is true. Nothing changed about God just because it didn’t get answered the way we wanted .

We will be sad… but we know that we know God will be glorified through this ❤️

UPDATE (Sunday, Oct 29, 3:00 PM)

From Ron Mitchell, Rachel’s Dad, Noah’s grandfather

Noah. Loved his birthplace. And he loved the people.

UPDATE (Mon, Nov 1. 1:30 PM)

From Noah’s grandmother - “Lainey”

Below is a binder filled with Noah’s medical history.

He had many physical and mental issues that made life very challenging at times.

He wanted to be healed so badly and didn’t understand why he had to suffer.

But as of 1:37 am 10.23 he was totally healed FOREVER.

Noah loved to hug people and he was a good hugger. It was difficult to hug him completely because his back was so sensitive .

It brings me great joy to think about him hugging Jesus fully with no back issues .

He was also well known for wanting to hug your first before anyone else could if you had not seen him in a while or being the last one to hug you when you left.

Well Noah you got to hug Jesus first! High 5 buddy. I can’t wait to hug you fully when I see you again.❤️❤️

UPDATE (Tues, Oct 31, 2:00 PM)

From Rachel (Noah’s Mom)

I opened our email to find a proof of Noah’s tombstone with request for approval. It took my breath away and I slammed my phone down.

I’m hungry but I can’t eat.

I’m tired but I can’t sleep.

I’m heartbroken but the tears don’t come

I’m numb but the feelings consume me

I’m awake but I feel like I am sleepwalking

I’m alone but there are people all around me.

I’m drowning in grief but somehow have to help my daughters stay afloat.

Ellie knocks on his door and calls out “Wowah”. She doesn’t know where he is. She doesn’t understand.

I thought about pulling out the Christmas decor this weekend for some cheer and then immediately groaned in anguish because my Noah always assembles my trees for me.

The printer wasn’t working and he wasn’t here to fix it.

I saw a funny dog video on Instagram and he wasn’t here to laugh with me.

His dog needs a walk and I can barely put one foot in front of the other.

I’m frozen but time is still moving forward. How can this be? I just buried my son, I want to scream, how can life keep moving forward without him?

I want to hug him, hold his hand, touch his face- I want him to know how desperately his Mommy misses him, how incomplete my life feels without him.

My bones hurt, my heart aches, my soul is in anguish

—————————————

Hi, my name is Lori Baldwin. Rachel Greenfield is a dear friend and health coach partner. Rachel, and her husband Nathan, have five children. Noah (15), their first born, resides with his four sisters - Mercy (13), Keziah and Radiance (11 year old twins) and Ellie (2). Noah is intelligent beyond his years and thrives working independently in a home school environment. Along with wanting to be an engineer and work in Formula 1 Racing, he aspires to be the best chess player in the world! One of the first things I noticed about Noah was his trademark blue glasses which only accentuate his already striking blue eyes!

This is a tight knit family threaded in their deep love of Jesus. They were missionaries in Jordan before moving to Atlanta. Both sides of the family have members in the ministry.

On Thursday of this past week, Noah presented with vomiting and blood in his urine. Rachel took him to the ER never imagining that these initial symptoms would escalate into Noah fighting for his life as hours and days progressed. Drs are unsure as to what’s causing his red blood cells to breakdown. Noah is in life threatening danger so long as his antibodies continue destroying his red blood cells therefore no functions can be restored. He’s had numerous blood transfusions and is currently on dialysis. Hour by hour, it’s touch and go. Any parent/grandparent would NEVER want to be in such a position.

The family is desperate and weary needing prayer for their only son. The emotional toll it’s taken to be by Noah’s beside leaves them saying one thing, “I’m so desparate for my sweet boy to live.” Extended family have gathered to pray over Noah pleading for a miracle. And then there are Noah’s sisters at home who need their mom and dad’s presence and stability not being able to process what’s happening to their brother.

It’s painful to see people we love in crisis. Our words feel insufficient and it’s uncomfortable to see someone suffer knowing we do not have the power to change their circumstances or relieve their hurt. WE CAN, HOWEVER, COME ALONGSIDE THEM IN SIMPLE, TANGIBLE WAYS TO EASE THEIR LOAD AND REMIND THEM THEY ARE NOT ALONE.

If we could bind together as a community and form “Noah’s ARC” with a financial embrace offsetting medical expenses and whatever else is needed to help keep this family afloat in the days ahead, it would be GREATLY APPRECIATED. Let’s flood them with our outpouring of support.

Thank you,

Lori Baldwin (Rachel’s friend, health coach partner, and sister in Christ)