Last weekend we had our kick off event… Mugs & Muffins. It was so great, and God blessed all of our efforts and answered prayers! Our guest speaker, Glenette Russell, challenged us all to get involved and open our eyes to where we need to serve in this new ministry. When she had finished I gave a short testimony to kind of…. encourage all the ladies to not waste their lives. I didn’t get to say all of the following, but this is what I had planned…
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I am going to close with a story. This is the story of great friendship… the kind that lasts a lifetime. Let me start by saying I’m not telling you all this to make you sad or depressed or anything… I’m telling you all this story to show that God is sovereign. He is in control. He still works miracles, and most importantly to remind all of us to not waste any of the time we have left on this earth.
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Nate and I got married right after he graduated from college, here at OBU. I still had three years left (yes, Nate is three years older than me) so when we moved to Arkansas, I went to the U of A. When you are married and in college for a degree, and not to party you quickly find others that are like you. I had one great friend in college, Courtney. Courtney and I met in my first class in business school. After that semester we coordinated our schedules and took every possible class together. She was full of life and always stretched me to get out of my perfectionist ways. Like whenever I would doodle all through class, Courtney would bump my hand and make me mess up, or just draw a big line across the page… If you know me, you know that is a big deal. As I look back at that time I treasure those memories because Courtney taught me not to take things so seriously. She taught me how to slow down and see the big picture. After we graduated from college in May 2008 we make plans to go to dinner so our husbands could finally meet. Nate and I just had to go to one youth camp first. It was Wednesday night of camp when Courtney’s dad called me with the news that she had died. That was June 18, 2008. So instead of going to dinner together, I went to her funeral.
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Kristin and I got to know each other in middle school and by the time we were eighth graders we had a bond that couldn’t be broken. Do you notice how your friends are a lot like you? Well, Kristin and I were that way… We had the same morals, the same mind set, and the same dreams. I don’t think about middle school or high school or my wedding without thinking of Kristin. In middle school we would draw pictures of our futures with our husbands. Then in high school we would go on all kinds of choir trips and she would make me tapes of her singing for my birthdays. She lit up the room with her laughter. She was a red head that could always make anyone smile. On July 29, a few weeks ago, while Nate and I were in Wal-Mart of all places, Nate got a call. It was someone close to her family giving me the news that she had died while on vacation with her family in Hawaii.
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You are probably wondering… how did Courtney and Kristin die? Well, on motorcycles…. but that isn’t important. What is important is why I felt like I needed to share this story. I am 25 years old and have lost two of my best friends. I spent a lot of time in prayer after these two deaths, and especially after Kristin died a few weeks ago just trying to go see a sunset with her husband. I asked God why? I started to throw a pitty party for myself asking Him, If this normal… to have two good friends die? Couldn’t Kristin and JD just waited one more minute to leave their hotel room… then that truck wouldn’t have hit them. Couldn’t Courtney have waited til her husband got home to go for a ride? There were endless questions. But last Thursday after Kristin’s celebration of life ceremony, I felt at peace, which is why I am able to stand here and talk about it right now. God worked a miracle of peace in my heart and in Courtney’s family back in 2008. And God worked a miracle in my heart and in Kristin’s family just a few weeks ago. I feel that it is my job to keep Courtney’s and Kristin’s story alive.
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The best thing about both of my friends… they were dedicated, authentic, faithful followers of Christ and I know where they are right now. Courtney served in her church every time someone came to know the Lord. She was there counseling with them and standing there with a towel when they got baptized. Kristin was an extremely gifted singer and had been leading worship in her churches since high school. Their lives were not wasted, and today I feel like I’m following God’s prompting, getting way out of my comfort zone, and telling this story for a few simple reasons….
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Sure, so my friends’ memories will live on, but more than that….. So we won’t take our fragile, temporary lived for granted…. So each one of us can look forward to Heaven and carry that hope around with us every day…. So we, as women, will not take for granted the friendships we have or the ones we need to make… So we can get past ourselves and get our focus on what really matters, and that is the Lord, Jesus Christ….. And mostly, so we can search ourselves and see what God is call us to do.
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What is God calling you to do in your own personal relationship with Him? In your family? In your church? And, if you are a part of FBCY, in this new women’s ministry?
