Well, here we are. One year later. I can tell you that I never expected to be here today. But now that I am here, the view is amazing and I am more determined than ever.
Thats the funny thing about life...you don’t know what’s around the corner. Scripture tells us in James 4:13-15 we don’t know what our life will be like tomorrow, but we will do as the Lord wants us to do. For some people this is hard to swallow, because we like to be in control of our lives. But this is part of submitting our will to God’s will, just as Jesus did in the garden. A good friend recently told me, ‘You can’t submit to something until you disagree with it. Otherwise it’s just agreement’. Our job is not to worry about tomorrow or what’s coming, but rather to submit that control and our will to God and effect today for eternity.
I wasn’t totally sure what to expect this year, with it being one year since Gabby went home to be with Jesus. Honestly, in my mind, I began to play out all the emotions and gloom of what it would be like on the anniversary. Because, when I got that phone call early in the morning last thanksgiving, I knew Gabby would be healed. I was completely persuaded. I believed it. And I was so blindsided when we walked into that hospital room and received the news. I felt totally helpless...there was nothing I could do. I just stood there with a huge hole through my being, holding my sobbing wife, and my three year old little girl, Isabella. There is nothing that can prepare someone for that moment. Nothing.
Going through this journey was unexpected for us. And sometimes I still cry. How could I not, I love my precious Gabby. There was a moment just a few weeks ago...I was walking down the hall rehearsing in my thoughts how this thanksgiving without Gabby would feel, and I felt the Spirit of God inside of me rise up. I am more than a conqueror! I am an overcomer and am redeemed from the curse! I began to pray and remind myself of God’s goodness and His promises. I began to rehearse how he brought me and Heather through the worst time in our lives to give us victory today. Psalm 103 tells us to remember the Lord’s benefits and how He redeemed us. I made up my mind right there in that hallway how I would feel this year.
Believe me when I say, I miss Gabriella, and I think about her everyday. And while I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, I do know that while I am here today that I can help bring Hope and Healing to others.
This past sunday, my Pastor, Billy Joe Daugherty, stepped into his eternal reward in heaven. Never would I, or anyone, have imagined this. I owe him and his family so much. Pastor was always there throughout my life. He married me and heather, dedicated Isabella, He was there when Heather died and came back to life....so much he did, never expecting anything in return. His only thought was that we would know Jesus more. I remember before Gabby’s memorial service, sitting in the back room with my family, Pastor walked in. He spoke a few words to the family and said how he saw God’s grace in our lives and saw how we were already ministering God’s healing to others. I remember clearly the next words Pastor said, “They got it! They got it!” He looked at us and smiled.
Pastor Billy Joe was an amazing man. And without his ministry, I wouldn’t have known how to experience God’s healing in my life. I can’t think of a better way to honor his life then to simply love people and help them experience healing in dealing with his loss, because Pastor touched so many lives. My time this past week has been spent looking for ways to help others through this process. Yes, its hard. Yes, I miss him. But nothing will deter me from my purpose. For me, there is no better way to honor Gabby, Pastor, and others who have gone home before us, then to see a person in need, and be a friend they can talk to, a shoulder to cry on, someone to listen to stories and to show the love of Jesus.
This year, we are starting the First Annual Holiday Gift Drive. We are collecting toys for kids and babies who are in the hospital through the holidays. Also, gas cards and restaurant cards for mom and dads. You can also make a monetary donation towards any of those things families need. We want to be a blessing to families during their moment of need. If you feel to be a part, just email, text of facebook me or heather so we can connect with you.
We are so grateful for our families, and our victory family and friends. We pray that this year will be a year of breakthrough and thanksgiving in your life.
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with what you wrote about what you felt and about pastor. There is nothing we can do except to LOVE others and reach out to those in need. In doing that we find a greater release of what's on the inside of us. It opens up our understanding to something much Bigger than what we are "seeing" because what we see or understand is not really all that there is to life.. When something unexpected happens to us it makes us understand better what is true and not, that life is bigger than ourselves. I pray that I too would reach out to more people than to myself..