It has been a wonderful 2014 for our immediate family. Meritt has grown and blossomed before our very eyes. She has become a wonderful big sister and made us so happy in every way. Speaking of big sister...we were blessed with a new baby boy, Wells, in May and what a perfect blessing he has been. Brian and I were also able to become an aunt and uncle for the first time to a beautiful niece, Cora Belle, she is perfect in every way and it has been a true blessing to watch Brooke and Jordan settle into their new role as parents.
Not everyday has been good but overall it has been a good year and God has used everyday to reveal himself to us in some sort of way. For my church family 2014 has been a good year but also a year of loss. We have lost some giants this year. We said goodbye to some true men and women of God. Men and women who poured themselves into furthering the kingdom. Men and women who made financial, family and personal sacrifices to watch people learn about Jesus and to see God's Kingdom expand in Jackson, TN and also across the world.
Yesterday, our church lost another giant. While a wave of sadness and grief washed over everyone that knew him, it also catapulted us to make our life count. To make my life be more than the dining room I've been trying to decorate or the last few gifts I have left to buy. To make life more than my personal bucket list of places I want to visit or the fitness goals I am trying to accomplish. While all the giants that we lost this year had good lives, took great trips, and accomplished many personal goals those aren't the things that people remember about them.
The weeks spent on the mission fields, the time he paid for the young boys college, the time she organized all the trail blazer functions, the time he did weekly devotional with the inner city kids...these and so much more are the things that people remember. The selfless, Christ-like acts are the ones that people see when they look at the dash on the tombstone...date of birth - date of death. They made the dash of their life count.
This year I have found myself looking around the sanctuary on Sundays and noticing the widows and widowers. A knot forms in my throat and I hold back tears thinking of how they were just here the week before or the month before. I think of the impact they had on my personal life and on the lives of people all around the world. I then remember that the joy and satisfaction of a life well lived comes from giving, sacrificing and glorifying God in everything I do. Instead of being sad, I will commit to making my dash count. When my days on this earth are over I want to have lived a life that honored Jesus and was more about HIM and less about me...just as these giants have done.
