![Picture](/uploads/4/8/6/1/48616497/published/img-5147.jpg?1608002335)
Pain, disappointment, tragedy is holy.
When you are always being a blessing, God will make sure you are blessed.
God will never ask you to do something and not give you the favor to do it. You have favor, the question is do you have faith?
What will get you through is hope, not expectations. Expectations will let you down, hope will keep you going.
Trust God in the dark. If God started in the light, it wouldn't take faith.
Amy's story, her legacy, is her family, her work, and most importantly, her faith. Her family was her reason for fighting; Amy wanted more time with her kids, to take care of her mom, and to live out a dream of building a home on family property at Buckeye Lake with her husband.
Amy's work was her mission; she felt that "helping people" was what she was called to do. Beyond just their education, Amy wanted to help her students through life. In an incredible act of courage, Amy shared her diagnosis publicly with hundreds of her students in the auditorium, explaining that she would be losing her hair and taking time off as needed for her treatments. As her cancer progressed, she called them down a second time for an update and invited them to ask her anything they wanted. On both occasions she received dozens of hugs and well wishes. In the process, she also listened to many of their stories about cancer in their own families and comforted them in return. She worked as much as she could for as long as she could, fulfilling her desire to help others.
The most important legacy Amy left, though, is her faith journey. She attended church, as always, with her family and set an example by going forward for prayer during this struggle. She also invited students and staff to pray for her whenever they asked what they could do to help her. And she sought God at every turn. Amy was able to attend a "God-timed" retreat with me called "He Makes Me Brave" and a small group study of a book entitled It's Not Supposed To Be This Way by Lysa Turkeurst. She was clearly seeking God and He was clearly providing needed encouragement for her. Most revealing to me, though, was the list of "hymns and lessons" her husband found on her phone to send me when I asked for a favorite Bible verse for the plaque being created for the school in her memory. Beside her picture above, you can see several of those lessons. Psalm 118 was on her list twice and some of those verses are listed below, as well as the lyrics from "The First Song of Isaiah", a hymn at the top of her list.
In all of this I challenge each of us to think about how much of what we leave behind after we are gone from this world will point others to Jesus.
Psalm 118:1,5-6a,&14
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; / his love endures forever....
In my anguish I cried to the Lord, / and he answered by setting me free.
The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid....
The Lord is my strength and my song; / he has become my salvation"
"The First Song of Isaiah"
1. Surely, it is God who saves me;
I will trust in him and not be afraid.
2. For the Lord is my stronghold
and my sure defense,
and he will be my Savior.
3. Therefore you shall draw water
with rejoicing
form the springs of salvation.
4. And on that day you shall say,
Give thanks to the Lord and
call upon his Name;
5. Make his deeds known
among the peoples;
see that they remember
that his Name is exalted.
6. Sing the praises of the Lord,
for he has done great things,
and this is known in all the world.
7. Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion,
ring out your joy,
for the great one in the midst of you
is the Holy One of Israel.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.