Having Peace Through Loss of Son

“The pain of losing my nine-year-old son was just...I mean, something I never thought I would have to go through,” said Leslie Scott. She and her husband, Kert, were blessed with five children and two grandchildren. The entire family adored their youngest son, Cameron. “Cameron was just as sweet as they come,” said Leslie. “I mean, just such a sweet child, very pure-hearted and innocent. And from the time that he was just really young, he had a heart for the Lord.”

In the summer of 2022, their oldest son, Preston, traveled to Israel, meanwhile the Scotts were excited to take their other sons to the beach. “We got out there. Beautiful day on the beach. Everything was calm, and you couldn't have been more excited about what we were looking forward to that day,” said Kert.

Leslie remembers, “I went out on the water with Cameron and Jordan, and spent a while out there, and just having just such a sweet time.”

Kert adds, “The last thing I remember, you know, Cameron and Jordan were kind of like right not far from us, just kind of playing on the edge. She had a book, and I had a book, and then I looked up, and I said, 'Leslie, where's...where's Cameron?'"

Leslie responds, “And I said, 'Well, he's...you know, in the water with Jordan.' And Kert runs out there."
 
Kert recalls, “I said to Jordan, who was 16 at the time, I said, 'Jordan, where is Cameron?' And Jordan's like, 'I'm looking for him.'"

“And then I see some people bringing Cameron in, and my heart just sunk,” said Leslie. “I mean, it was just like, 'Oh no!' I mean, it's like, you know, your worst nightmare.”

“He still had a heartbeat, but lifeless on the beach. Yeah, it was pretty, like, it was surreal,” said Kert.

Leslie emotionally states, “People start doing CPR on him, and I'm just crying out to the Lord, because this is my baby.” 

“When we got to the emergency room, you know, we're just kind of waiting to hear word of what was happening, and that was, you know, that was hard sitting there,” says Kert. Leslie continues, “You know, we're just sitting there praying, and then the doctor comes in, and he says, 'We've done all we can do.'"

Cameron had been carried out by a riptide and drowned. They were grieving the loss of their nine-year-old son, when a hospital chaplain came to comfort them. He said, "'I just want you to know that...do not go down the rabbit hole of the what-ifs and the if-onlys, because that's not going to change anything.' He prayed with us, a very precious man of God. Leaving the hospital was the hardest thing, leaving there without Cameron,” said Leslie.  

“Being in a place of just, 'Lord, I can't do this.' I had plenty of Christian friends around me that were encouraging me,” said Kert. “It would be a mixture of grief and sadness, as well as gratitude and joy for the fact that we, you know, we had such a wonderful time with our son, and yet the reality of knowing that, you know, we're not going to see him again this side of heaven.”

“It is possible to have joy and hope even in the midst of the fire, even in the midst of the suffering,” said Leslie. “One of my favorite passages is in Isaiah 61, and it talks about that the Lord will comfort those who mourn in Zion. He will give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. I think when we're able to just press in to the Lord and just hold on to Him and His word and cling to Him, it's amazing. There's such power there.”
 
Kert adds, "Even in the midst of all my tears and everything, we don't grieve as the world does. We have hope, and that hope is knowing that Cameron is going to be resurrected. We're going to see him, and we're going to get to spend all of eternity with him because of the fact that we've all embraced Jesus.”

Cameron’s older brother, Preston, states, “The night that my brother passed away, I wrote, 'Brother, oh brother, miss you shall I surely, how you left this life so early to behold the face of God.' Only in Jesus can one feel simultaneously the deepest grief and pain and also joy and peace that is truly the thing of, 'It is well with my soul,' that remains there simultaneously.”

Kert smiles, “In many ways, my faith has been deepened. The faith that says, 'I trust you no matter what. I believe that you're good,' and that even in the midst of not understanding all this, knowing your ways are higher than our ways, that somehow none of this was a surprise to you, and you are still going to make this into something good.”

“I feel like the Lord's given me more boldness to be able to share the good news of the gospel because at another whole level, I realized that the only thing that really matters is if someone knows Jesus, if they have a relationship with Him, because our life's on this earth. I mean, the bible says our life is a vapor,” said Leslie.

“I truly believe that my best days with my brother, with Cameron, are not behind me, but are actually ahead,” said Preston. “The nine years that I had with him during this time, that's only the beginning of our friendship, that I have so much confidence that in the future, our brotherly bond and friendship is only going to be deepened as we are loving and worshiping the lord together.”

“Seeing the face of Jesus and being able to hug Cameron and just be reunited with him. I know that Cameron is experiencing such joy. He is experiencing the manifest presence of Jesus. I mean, he is having such a wonderful time in heaven.
Knowing that, and I know it without a doubt, that brings me such comfort and encouragement,” said Leslie. “Jesus is our blessed hope. I'm looking forward to that day more than anything.”