Mela Kamin – 4:10 Ministries

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After a busy day of preparing for & celebrating Greg’s birthday Wednesday, cleaning up, praying with and blessing my kids, I finally checked email. I wasn’t prepared.
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I was shocked to see that hospice had been brought in to my friend, Sara’s condo and she’s on the verge of going Home.
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I wasn’t prepared. As I read her friend Shannon’s updates and saw my twitter feed fill with news, prayers and tributes, I was overwhelmed.
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When I read Jessica and Matthew’s moving posts, I wasn’t prepared for the wave of big sloppy tears I’d sob at my computer.
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Sara is a beautiful, brave, gifted woman who has lived her faith so loud, lively and filled with light, you’d never know she can’t leave her home.
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Still, she used her humble, faithful voice, life-giving words and remarkable spirit to go out into the world and preach the good news, invest in others, pray, encourage and offer insight.
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Truth is, I never met her face-to-face.
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But, she had met me right where I was a thousand times, breaking into my heart with her vulnerability, humor and beauty. She let grace fall all over – in a comment, an email, a handwritten card.
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I have this note with her stunning, artful handwriting that I cherish. It is a gift to be able to make people feel so loved just by your words and acts of kindness. Sara used that gift well.

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Her reflections told me daily to Choose JOY – I certainly can use that reminder every moment, as life blurs past me.
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Sara defined joy this way:

Joy: the unwavering trust that God knows what He’s doing and has blessed me with the opportunity to be a part of it… not despite what’s happening in my life but because of it. When everything earthly feels heavy He gives me an internal lightness that can’t be touched.

Amen.
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It is a bold choice to see the glorious in the every day … to live with gratitude wherever God takes you … or doesn’t. Sara didn’t complain about her condition or not being able to leave her condo. But, she didn’t gloss over it either – she CHOSE joy, by sharing her story and Who wrote it. She stayed focused on being used by the One who calls her Home now.
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I wasn’t prepared,
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but Sara is.
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Soon, she’ll be able to breathe deep, run to her Father in Heaven and to her Dad she misses so and give hugs she’s only dreamt of.
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I will smile and sing
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and Choose JOY in her honor.
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I’m linking up with Jessica and other friends of Sara as we share our love for her in community with each other.