Savoring…

This is definitely the most difficult post I’ve ever written.  I’ve rewritten it over and over in my head a million times, and finally decided to just start typing because the thing is, it doesn’t matter what i type.  Just before I walked into a seminar this morning I read the email that I hoped to never read.  Sara Walker has gone home.  She suffers no more, she has her reward and is rejoicing with her precious daughter.  While I have no doubt about any of that, my earthly mind cannot wrap itself around why things like this have to happen.  My heart breaks for those left behind.  My children are around the same age as hers, and she and I are the same age.  I think that makes it so much closer to home to me, and really makes me think about the things I’m spending my time and energy on.  Does it really matter?  Am I doing the things that I need to be?  Am I nurturing the relationships that Jesus wants me to?  Am I seeking Him in all that I do?  I can’t honestly say I’m happy with my answers to those questions right now and that is a problem.  I was not personally friends with Sara, though I know many that were, but I feel like I knew her because she wrote so candidly on her caringbridge site and later her website throughout her illness.  Through these writings, Sara taught me to savor.   I wouldn’t say I’m very good at it yet, but it’s in my mind, and I can feel it chipping away at me on so many levels.  I WANT to savor the day, savor the time I have here with those that I love, and those I can help.  In a post a few months ago, she prayed, “…open my eyes to the gifts I know I am still missing, failing to catch as they float to the ground but You send them anyway because You are my faithful Father.”  I know that I am missing LOTS of them, but I pray that I can be more aware and more intentional, and it’s because of Sara.  While I can only imagine that she had her down days, the things that she wrote and the encouragement that she was to me through those writings, and I know to so many others is eye opening and even life changing.  I am certain that I would not be as courageous, but I’m so thankful that she was.    She definitely praised Him in the storm, and not only that, but she helped others to do the same!!  In January of 2011, shortly after she received her diagnosis, I had the honor of photographing her family.   I pray that these images will conjure up wonderful memories of the woman she was on earth for her husband and sons and all of her family in the months and years to come.  This is why I do what I do.  I ask that you keep this precious family in your prayers, and friends, let’s start savoring!

 

 

 

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