a farewell to LIBBY

listen to the words from the following song…

I once was fatherless,
a stranger with no hope;
Your kindness wakened me,
Awakened me, from my sleep

it’s ironic that libby died in her sleep…

Into marvelous light I'm running,
Out of darkness, out of shame.
By the cross, you are the truth
You are the life, you are the way

Lift my hands and spin around,
See the light that I have found.
Oh the marvelous light
Marvelous light

Psalm 27:1 says that the lord is my light and the one who saves me

We must TRUST god. We must trust not only that HE does what is best, but that he knows what is ahead. Could death be god’s GRACE for libby? We ask for god’s grace, but his answer is not always the answer we want. We all know that libby has struggled daily with her diabetes and we must still believe that GOD IS IN CONTROL…he knew what was BEST for libby.

Corrie ten boom once said, “when the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and TRUST the engineer to get you through”

One lady describes a unique experience in her life as this…

up ahead I saw three construction workers diligently working away in the heat, so I went up to them and asked if they wanted some water.. they said, “yes, please”. I went to the nearest store and bought 3 bottles of water. The workers were immensely pleased and wanted to pay for the drinks. I told them it was free. They were very shocked. This was a new experience for me also. I was never that generous, but more importantly, I would have never SEEN THEIR THIRST. Normally I would have walked past them, not thinking twice if they were thirsty.

LIBBY LOOKED FOR THIRSTY PEOPLE…

She DID FOR OTHERS with what she had until her last breath. She shared her home, her food, her LOVE everyday with someone. You all know the saying “she would give the shirt off her back”…even if she didn’t have a shirt to give, she would find a way to get a shirt and not keep it for herself, but give it away to someone in need.

She was a wonderful daughter, sister, mother, aunt and friend to ALL OF US.

I asked my daughter taylor to tell me what she thought about aunt libby, and her reply was, “SHE WAS SO NICE TO ME”. My guess is that if I polled everyone in this room, that would be your same answer.

Ghandhi once said, “LIVE as if you were to die tomorrow. LEARN as if you were to live forever.”

May we all learn from libby and the kindness of her ways. LEARN to GIVE, to CARE, to SHARE until OUR LAST BREATH.

VISION WALK - be still and know that i am GOD

well, today was finally VISION WALK...taylor and i and a host of others had been waiting for the day when we could go support our new friends tiffany and holt...(small note, i believe everyone is our friend, we just haven't met them all yet)...taylor felt such a "connection" with holt, being that he was not "perfect", she felt like he was like her and has felt so comfortable with him...another sidenote: tiffany and todd are great parents in the fact that their children are some of the MOST POLITE children i have ever met...AND, they are ALWAYS full of encouragement...those who know me, know I LOVE THAT...everyone can use a little encouragement...well, anyway...i have had this "connection" with the VISION WALK as my grandmother had maccular degeneration and i saw her struggles (the bible i use now is her LARGE PRINT bible that i bought her one year), also taylor having irlen syndrome (along with her dyslexia) makes her have such sensitivity to light and eye strain, etc. follows us through most days...well, we woke up this morning seeing it rain (we immediately began looking for ponchos, umbrellas, etc. to take to the walk...NEVER EVER DID IT CROSS OUR MINDS NOT TO GO...we wouldn't let a little rain stop us!!...we had worked so hard "selling our carrots" (taylor and i tried to think of a creative way to collect $$ for the walk and we decided that since carrots are good for your eyes, and this walk definitely was about the eyes, that we would go to the store and buy REAL carrots (long green leaves and everything) and SELL THEM...it was easier to ask people to BUY A CARROT instead of just making a donation...NO ONE TOOK THEIR CARROTS BY THE WAY...we sold the same carrots over and over...WHAT FUN!! (you gotta think out of the box)...one thing i noticed about the morning was that taylor did not take her "purple glasses" and had their been SUN out she would have had no choice but to wear her "purple glasses" or wear her non-prescription dark sunglasses to combat the sun's glare...but it was raining and she walked out glassesless (yes, this is a word)...i began thinking that had it been a BRIGHT BEAMING SUNNY DAY what havoc it would have wreaked on SO MANY EYES at the walk...AND REMEMBER, THE EYES WERE WHY WE WERE THERE...is GOD in control...ABSOLUTELY!!! HE can adjust the easiest and most complex things in this world of ours...THANK YOU GOD FOR THE CLOUDS THIS MORNING!!! another point i realized was that even with ALL the people doing the walk, i walked 99% of the walk by myself...i had 3 miles of prayer and meditation, SMELLING THE RAIN, FEELING THE RAIN, SEEING EVERYTHING BURST WITH THE FRESH RAIN GREEN, WATCHING THE DUCKS, SEEING THE SPIDER CLING TO THE WEB AS THE RAIN MADE IT SO UNSTABLE...i walked almost 1 1/2 miles behind a girl who appeared to be about my age (walking with her dad i would guess) and her site dog (sorry i don't know the pc word for this)...I NOTICED THE DOG NEVER MISS A STEP THROUGH EVERY PUDDLE, knowing how my dogs react and DID react just this morning getting their paws wet...THIS DOG KNEW HIS JOB AND THIS GIRL DEPENDED ON HIM, rain would not change his ways...i fought back tears many, many times (shocking i know)...and MANY times the tears won...well, those tears, they're back as i write this...i'm sitting writing this in my writing room, just by candlelight, watching the glow of the candle put me in such a tranquil state while i sit here relecting HOW GOOD GOD IS!!! RAIN OR SHINE HE'S ALWAYS THERE! I ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE STILL AND KNOW THAT HE IS GOD!! love you all xoxoxo shell

a PRAYER for my FRIENDS

i haven't written in a while, but i have had quite an emotional day with medical concerns for some very dear friends of mine...i told them, (after i repeated it myself)...to repeat after me, "God doesn't give us more than we can take"...boy God must think they are really strong...help us Lord to lean on You when we get burdened...push us so hard that the only thing we can do to stay afloat is reach to You...sometimes we get going on our own and we forget that You are there with us...THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE...let us not forget...i pray for my friends tonight, that ANYTHING i may be going through will be revealed to me as MINIMAL compared to their concerns today...GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BRINGING THEM INTO MY LIFE...may they see YOU in me and truly know it will be ok...YOU ARE STILL IN CONTROL...help us to trust and NOT FORGET...I LOVE YOU, AND I LOVE THEM!!!

lives enTWINed

20 fingers, 20 toes
1 tiny girl
with cheeks of rose

born on the same day
1 breathing life
1 to die
lives enTWINed

1 life, 2 babies to love
tiny girl remains
boy's gone above

lives enTWINed

TWINLESS TWIN (written on our 40th birthday)

40 years i've gone without you
6 months we were side by side
often it makes me wonder
why you, not me that died

i want to know what you'd look like
what it would be like if you were here
going on without you
i never have to wonder if you are near

i feel your presence
i feel your touch
i know to this day
we've shared so much

i'm the lucky one
to have had you
if even for such a short time
we carry on together without your body, just mine

not many can say that they're a twin
and fewer a twinless twin
but no one but me can say
they've had a BEN

WHY PINK

they say we knew each other
after all you are my brother

i am here and you are gone
why does it all seem so wrong

the things we did just me and you
until the day our time was through

did we laugh...did we cry...
why is it we didn't get to say goodbye

maybe we did, i don't know
there are so many things left untold

how would you look...how would it be
how is it that now it's just me

why is it me
why is it not you

why did pink win
and not the blue