A testimony of Love

Two weeks ago today a wonderful guy named Marc Holton passed away. While he left this planet I am certain that he is in Heaven now, a far better place than this earth we call home. It's just hard to understand why God would take a guy so young with so much potential? I found myself asking "Why God?" when I found out the terrible news. While I can't understand God's plan in all of this, as I am sure many others can't as well, I can take comfort in the fact that HE is God and I am not. To us, death is such a terrible thing (and it is don't get me wrong), but in reality for believers in Christ Jesus they get to go home and see their Maker...what a wonderful thing that is.

When we went to Marc's memorial on Sunday I was still in shock that a friend, young person my age was being laid to rest. As the service progressed God's presence was evident. The words spoken about Marc--how he touched so many lives, made so many people smile, and shared Christ's Love with so many around him, was an incredible testimony to the Love Marc had for Christ. I believe this is the legacy Marc Holton would have wanted to leave here on earth, although I am sure he hadn't planned on leaving quite so early.

Marc- I know that God was glorified through your life, and death. I know we will see your big smile again one day. I will miss your big laugh and playing rook with you at camp, although I am sure we will have a lot of time for that in Heaven. :) I know God said to you when you entered Heaven "Well done my good and faithful servant." And I am saying the same thing--your life inspired me to live and love a better life.

See ya later!

The sad things in life...

As I read all these books about pregnancy I see the importance of getting good prenatal care, eating healthy, and taking your prenatal vitamins. Which brings me to think about my 7th grade student who is 13…. she is a couple months ahead of me. I am guessing she will probably have her baby in March or April. Can you imagine…being thirteen and getting ready to have a baby? I am having a hard time imagining how this will all work out at 25 and I have a husband. This poor young girl hardly ever comes to school, sleeps when she comes and lives in one of the worst projects in Winston-Salem. I wonder if she is getting the good prenatal care all pregnant women deserve?

On another non-pregnancy note we just found out my 83 year old grandfather has Alzheimer’s. We knew he had been losing his memory for a while now, but he has finally seen a doctor that has announced the news. My grandfather’s reaction to the doctor’s statement is “I am not brain dead, that doctor said I am brain dead.” My grandfather I guess thinks nothing is wrong with him, but his short-term memory is defiantly going. He always has to ask my grandmother what day it is and he has been getting up at 12 midnight thinking it is time to start his day.

Recently he has been taking medication for his Alzheimer, but the doctor told him he could not drive…what??? He could not understand why he couldn’t drive. He said without being able to drive he could not go to work on the farm and he might as well die. This is a man who for 83 years has worked—physically on golf courses as the superintendent, and on my cousins’ farm for everyday of his life, probably at least 12 hours a day. This man defines himself by his work.

What is hardest for me…is not that he doesn’t know who I am—I am sure that will come, but is to see him suffer. He cries at night because he knows he is losing it. My grandmother is a great woman and she has stood beside papaw for 60 long years, but she is suffering. My mom, (who is also a lot like her father) a tough, strong woman is suffering. It’s hard to see those you love so much struggle, and feel so much pain that they don’t know what to do.