thursday's ten or so*: the Ty edition

this week is a little different
as life seems a little more precious, a little more sacred
we heard friday night that a former student of ours in the youth group we served in for years
was hurt badly on a texas interstate
and the news came late saturday that he had succumbed to his injuries.
he was 18
and he was struck while he was walking back to his car after checking on a car that had been rear ended a couple of cars in front of him
and if you knew him, you'd not be surprised by that either.


i prayed LIFE over him when i learned of his accident
(some of you joined me on that when i posted it on twitter and facebook, and i thank you)
and oh, how those prayers were answered
he's having the most abundant life right now


so here's ten or so things i was reminded of through Ty's life (and death)


you don't have to be old to have lived a lifetime
there are stories upon stories about the amazing things this kid did...and he hadn't even hit his 20s.  don't tell me you're too young to make a difference or that no one will listen to you because of your age.  just DO good, and people will notice


living generously is (really) the best way to live


people notice your smile
(he had a signature grin...that's been mentioned more than any other singular thing except his faith)
they also notice your lack of smiling, for the record


when you lose yourself in worship you really do stop caring or noticing what others think


you make more of a difference in the small things than you think


people will both love and tolerate your quirks, but they are uniquely yours and will be missed if you aren't around


don't take yourself too seriously...people will love you for it


life is a lot more fun when it's lived as one adventure after the next


we should take notice of the young ones
they're out there changing the world. i'd like to join them.


the funeral is tomorrow (friday).
please pray for Ty's family -- his parents and two sisters, the friends that are hurting badly, and all those who feel a light is gone from their life.  while i know Ty is on the ultimate adventure, i'm also sad to know i'll never see that grin again this side of heaven.


*i've changed it because some weeks i have exactly ten things to share but most weeks i don't.  so, yeah. :-)

today

thursday's ten will post tomorrow (it's a giveaway edition so get ready!)


today, reflect
remember
be grateful


for what little you have
for the abundance you have
for the relationships you cherish
for the ones you long for


life is not perfect for any of us
and we on our blogs often forget to show a balanced perspective


so if today isn't ideal for you
if family gatherings are painful or nonexistent, or you simply can't go for any number of reasons


know that 
i get it
(really, i do)


but there is always
ALWAYS
something to give thanks for.


and sometimes digging to find it means you find other treasures along the way


so today, be blessed
because you already are.

unpack those bags

ahhh, baggage.

sometimes it presents itself in streamlined matching suitcases, shiny and new
other times it looks more like cardboard boxes barely held together with duct tape

both equally dangerous.

people who look so put together but are hiding carefully packed issues right under the pristine surface.

others who let their issues seep into every fabric of their lives, so that it's obvious to even the person beside them in traffic or behind them in the checkout line, much less the people they call friends.

and we all have it. like it or not, accept it or not, we're all carrying it.

which is all fine and good...until it starts leaking.

leaking into our relationships
our personal lives
our friendships
our encounters with strangers even

hopefully our response is to face it head-on
to unpack each layer of hurt and shame
or bitterness
or sin
or mistake

but DANG
it's hard

i just have to keep reminding myself
that it's worth it.

because i'm in this forever

(give it a listen.  worth it.)

He's worth it
all that painful "stuff"
it's worth it
because i'm in this forever

Thursday's Ten: things that have happened in the last 7 days

i've been BUSY, y'all!



1. packed and got overwhelmed by all the packing to do
2. called in the troops, and between the army and i we got the entire house packed and cleaned by 10 pm sunday night!
3. witnessed anthony's little sister hailey get baptized at church on sunday
4. was hit by a car in the wal-mart parking lot on sunday
5. said goodbye to my house with more than a few tears as we locked everything down on sunday. thankfully, at that point only anthony and his parents were there to witness that.
(and jiminy the cricket came back in from the backyard one more time.)
6. turned in my keys to the real estate agent on monday and received a check in return
7. went to dinner celebrating hailey's baptism at maggiano's on tuesday night
8. followed dinner with an er visit. i'd been short of breath all.day and between anthony and his parents was forced...ordered convinced to go see a doctor
9. was admitted to the hospital overnight (with the threat of it being more than an overnight stay). turned out to be asthma exacerbation--a flare up of a condition i thought i had grown out of at the age of 12. anthony says i gave him quite a scare--i'm sure the oxygen mask, ivs, my incredible pain at being stuck the first time they drew blood, and the fact that i still couldn't catch my breath even by the time they got me into my hospital bed didn't help in that at all.
10. was released approximately 14 hours later (noonish wednesday) and taken to anthony's mom's house until she deemed me fit to go home. she came and vacuumed all my furniture and did a little extra unpacking too when she dropped me off onto her couch. amazing woman that she is :-D

so they say bad things come in 3s. i'm thinking starting with anthony's granddaddy's illness and death, the foreclosure, and this er visit and hospital stay we're due for a run of good things.

can i get an amen?





(for those of you who are new followers from monday--thank you! i promise i'll get to each and every one of your blogs if you commented--i had internet for approximately 5 hours before i started feeling really bad)

Bad Sad Haiku Friday

My heart is sad now
I have cried a lot of tears
Hate saying goodbye

It will be good to
Watch Grey's and then some chick flicks
Let myself chill out.

(I HATE saying goodbye. Have I mentioned that yet? When I'm saying it to the couple that has essentially filled the role of parents where my flesh and blood were not able to...yeah. It sucks.)

*this blog will return to it's normal cheery and sarcastic schedule shortly. please excuse the crying mess. don't slip on the tears on your way out...*