The blessings were hard to find at that moment.
Slowly we are finding them again.
These are our kids.
Jones Chapel's kids.
That's ANDREW STRICKLAND in the white t-shirt and sunglasses.
He had a ready smile.
A kindness about him
An appreciation for life that one gets when you fight illness from childhood.
He was sick.
Then a miracle. A liver was available. The transplant was happening
and he was soon recovering and looking forward to being home for Christmas.
Yesterday - emails - texts
An infection.
ICU
Fear.
and last night his precious family and all of us who love him
had to tell Andrew goodbye.
The blessings were hard at that moment and the moments that follow
But slowly God sends reassurance that we are in HIS care.
Maybe the reassurance is immediate
Only our ability to see it is slow.
We want to know why.
We want our small view of the situation to be clear.
We want to make sense of losing a 17 year old
One of the really good kids in the world.
I found my reassurance in words that Andrew posted on his Instagram account
We all have days where
we feel we can't survive.
Sometimes dreams are shattered
Friendships may fall apart
Loved ones may hurt us
Finances may worry us
Sickness may overtake us
We may even lose people we love
But God will ALWAYS be there to guide us through
even the toughest of times.
Never lose FAITH
Hold onto HOPE
TRUST IN GOD ALWAYS
Even in losing Andrew
he left us better people for having known him
Rest in Peace
Andrew Strickland
12-17-2014
You made a difference in my life
You are loved.
EDITED- Thursday afternoon. I can see that this link is being shared. Thank you all for that. If you have come here from a link on Facebook, please leave a few words in the comments section for the family. If you are a regular reader here and would like to leave messages as well. I will print these and get them to Andrew's precious family. I so appreciate the prayers and good wishes expressed for the family and I know they will appreciate them as well.
Make sure your loved ones know how much they mean to you.
In Michelle's words --- "it all happened so fast." and "in the blink of an eye our world was turned upside down"
EDITED- Thursday afternoon. I can see that this link is being shared. Thank you all for that. If you have come here from a link on Facebook, please leave a few words in the comments section for the family. If you are a regular reader here and would like to leave messages as well. I will print these and get them to Andrew's precious family. I so appreciate the prayers and good wishes expressed for the family and I know they will appreciate them as well.
Make sure your loved ones know how much they mean to you.
In Michelle's words --- "it all happened so fast." and "in the blink of an eye our world was turned upside down"
3 comments:
Beautiful tribute. I am sure he was a beautiful person although we did not know him. May God give you strength and hope.
Andrew had such a beautiful way about him, he was honest and he loved life... We will miss his smiling face and his quick wit. We love you Andrew! Peace be with you now, love Uncle Chris and Aunt Patti.
I am so sorry your sweet child was called home. Andrew's message was shared by a friend and one I needed to hear. May God wrap his loving arms of comfort around you.
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