Today the memorial service for Clayton was held. I have never seen that many people at ABC church.
I copied his obituary, it follows:
Clayton Stanton McDonald went home to be with the Lord March 16, 2009 at 8:33 am just 40 days shy of his 19th birthday. He impacted more people in his short time on earth than many do in 75 or more years. He loved people and spent his days investing in people’s lives, always thinking of others before himself. Everyone who came in contact with him always considered him a close friend even if they only knew him for a brief period. Clayton was diagnosed with leukemia at 7 and under went 2.5 years of chemotherapy, had two plus years of good health and then relapsed in 2003 and underwent a bone marrow transplant. He again experienced a 2+ year period of health and fell out of remission September 2006 and then underwent a second bone marrow transplant in January 2007, and was able to enjoy his senior year in high school with his classmates, even participation on the diving team and qualifying for the CIF championships. After a productive summer working with junior high youth ministry at Atascadero Bible Church and participation in a mission trip to Costa Rica, he began to feel anemic. A trip to Stanford in October 2008 indicated that the leukemia had returned for a fourth time. At this point it was clear that a cure was not possible. Clayton chose to forgo treatment and live out his final days without chemotherapy. He then took the opportunity to tell his story to all who would listen, speaking at Atascadero Bible Church, Cornerstone Church of Simi Valley and multiple schools and youth groups throughout the county. Finally on Wednesday March 11, 200 he spoke to over 900 of his peers at Call Poly. Clayton is survived by his mom and dad Wendy and Stan McDonald and his brother and sister Zack and Samantha, his grandparents and two great grandmothers and extended family.
I was priveleged to spend the last couple hours with him, his family and 20-30 close friends. It was a very emotional and memorable evening. It has been a hard week as we have mourned Clayton’s death. We dearly miss him but are rejoicing knowing that he is with his father in heaven. He would not have wanted us to wallow in our sorrows but to live our lives loving Christ and by doing so loving others. In his death he glorified his father and now he himself is glorified before the father. Oh to see as he sees now, the face of Christ in all of Christ’s glory. For that is why we celebrate, he is home and God has been glorified in his death.
Clayton was very much a celebrity in the community of Atascadero. Loved and known by all. As a result and at the work of many of his friends part of his life has been captured on video. Enjoy these clips of Clayton, as he may appear small in stature he was a man before God.
There are various videos and the memorial service on this website. http://www.abcchurch.org/clayton/
Clayton had the opportunity to speak at the youth group at Francis Chan’s church, Cornerstone. It was recorded and you can watch it here. http://www.vimeo.com/2613276
There is also of course the many videos that he and my brother stared in, which my brother produced at http://www.youtube.com/user/nickisshort Clayton was such a fun loving kid and you can see a sampling of that in these videos. They make me laugh every time.
More videos can be found in my recent post. Clayton’s Story. These are by far the best quality and I would recommend you see these first.
Clayton was very much like a brother to me. I grew up with him as he was my brother’s best friend and was always around. The theme of clayton’s life and the impact that he seemed to have on everyone was his love. He loved everyone and that was exceedingly aparent at his memorial service. If you ever had a chance to know this young man you would know of what I speak. He will be greatly missed and the impact that he has made on my life and those he came in contact with was profound. I will never be the same.
The Rocks Cry Out 