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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Taylor, we will never forget you

Yesterday was a tough one. We were awakened with a phone call that the teenage daughter of friends and members of our church family had been killed the night before in a car accident.

We spent time with the family yesterday and my heart is still just breaking for them. Words can’t express the pain and grief they are feeling. I can not imagine walking through that personally and I will tell you, I have praised God non-stop that I have not had to walk through such pain. As it is, Mark and I have not been able to stop breaking into tears about it.

This young girl was a gem. She was the real deal. She was pure and innocent and loving. She loved her Savior and the hope we hold on to is that we know she is dancing with Him now. Thankfully, the whole family is serving the Lord and they will get through this with the awesome, mighty hand of our Lord guiding them each step of the way. Taylor, we will never forget you.

Another (not so) momentous occasion yesterday was that I turned 40. Talk about putting life into perspective! It does not bother me at all to reach this decade, and after yesterday it seems even more insignificant.

I am so thankful for all the Lord has done for me these 40 years. I feel like I am finally figuring out what I want to be when I grow up!

I want my life to be lost in Him.
I want my family to know how much I love them.
I want to live out the rest of my days without regret, unashamedly worshipping my God.
I want to make true of myself, the statement that John Piper states in his book Desiring God:

“God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.”



I am going to edit this to add this video
.

I've seen it before and loved it, but considering yesterday, it is even more relevant to me today.


This is John Piper:

29 comments:

jel said...

sounds like you had a bittersweet day!

Am sorry hear about your Friends daughter, they will be in my prayers, ((((huggs))))


HBday~ 40, I got 5 years over that !

blessings

Deidre said...

So sorry to hear about your friend's daughter. It's so tragic when someone is taken so young. I'm praying for you as you minister to that family.

Happy Birthday! Such a great way to look at 40! ....some wonderful goals!

Have a wonderful day!

Monkey Giggles said...

This news brought tears to me....I am crying as I type. My prayers are going up for this family. There are no words...just love...love...love this family as Jesus would. If you would please keep us posted on the family.

Monkey Giggles said...

ohh...A happy birthday hug going out to you.

Anonymous said...

Sue,

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! This decade is not so bad now that I have been in it a little over a year.

This post was so powerful and brought tears to my eyes. I love John Piper and I have to tell you that I cringed at the sound of his words. I could hear the passion in them, but mostly just the truth and I frightened me for the future of our nation and my children and grandchildren.

All I could say was "Break our hearts, O God!"

I'm so sorry for the loss of this precious girl. Her name alone sparked emotion in me because I, too, have a Taylor and can't imagine my life without him. But this I know -- GOD IS ENOUGH and God will take care of this precious family and will be glorified in their sufferings!

Bless you!

Dori

holy chaos said...

i am so sorry about your friend's daughter. I will be praying for this family. I lost my 18 year old sister in a car wreck about 17 years ago.

i am going to check John Piper out. He doesn't beat around the bush about how he feels does he?

Happy Birthday : )

Anonymous said...

Birthday blessings to you, Sue. I'll pray for your friends as they grieve. I can't imagine! Our kids' 18yo babysitter is exactly as you described Taylor. We would all be devastated if anything happened to Hannah, so I can only imagine how you all must be feeling. And her family,...God be with them as I know only He can.
Blessings,
~Toni~

Jen said...

Bless this dear family....really bless them Jesus!
My heart always breaks at such news...I thank God for every day with my children...and never want to be able to relate to such pain.

Happy 40'th!!!The closer I get, the younger that number seems!
I am a firm believer in being the age I believe I am in my head...it's all so relative...
Bless you with wisdom and comfort as you bless this grieving family.

Anonymous said...

Amen... With tears in my eyes I agree fully with everything this man said...

Thank you for this, Sue, and for having the courage to put it out there.

Cathy said...

I am sooo sorry for your loss...prayers are being lifted for family and friends.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday, Sue. I turned 42 today! Woo Hoo! The great thing about hitting your 40's - you find that your relationships seem so much richer! It's amazing!

I will be praying for Taylor's family....I cannot imagine losing a child!

Shari said...

Wow, how sad for this family. We worked with as youth pastors for 11 years prior to church planting...it's
heartbreaking to bury the young...even when they know Jesus. The first funeral my husband did was a 16 month old little girl that was our son's nursery playmate. We had LOTS of questions. I do know that because of Jesus our grief is so different than the world's.

Happy birthday and God Bless.

p.s. God continually placed your family unit on my heart yesterday. Throughout the day I was praying for you all.

Holly said...

You really made me think. Thank you! I wrote about it, because what John Piper said caused me to do some evaluating.

Thank you friend! Praying for your friends.
Love,
holly

Kimmie said...

Hi Sue;

Sorry to hear of the loss of your friends daughter- a very heavy emotional thing to deal with-praise God that the family knows the Lord and will have Him to lean on. He is an amazing comforter and he is able!

Happy birthday ;-) Life is definitely a gift we shouldn't take for granted. We should cherish today, because we aren't promised tomorrow.

hugs;
Kimmie
mama to 6
one homemade and 5 adopted

Praise and Coffee said...

Shari, thank you so much for praying for us. That is so cool.

Check out Holly's site (CrownLaiddown) she really expounded on the thought of suffering, it is powerful.

Roo said...

happy birthday sue! i am glad you were born.

my heart felt the pain as i read what you wrote...ouch. my community is reeling in a bit of pain this week too.

oh God, that you that you are near the broken hearted and save those who are crushed in spirit.

Steffie B. said...

Happy belated Birthday...so sorry for your friends loss. Let's get together soon.

Emmie said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your friends daughter. I can't even imagine what you all must be going through. They are times like this which really make you wonder what God's plan and reason was for this accident. Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers. <3

Congrats on the big 4-0. We are celbrating my mom's 40th on Saturday.

Nikki said...

I am so sorry for your friends' loss...that is a tragedy that is hard for me to even think of.
A good friend of mine lost her daughter and God is the ONLY thing that gets her thru every day.

I hope you had a blessed birthday. Mine is tomorrow. I will have to copy down your goals -- they are great ones!

Pam said...

Oh Sue, what a heart-wrenching story. I will also be praying right now for your friends. May the Lord comfort all of you in a special way these coming days especially.

Happy B-day. 40 isn't so bad. I've been enjoying it for about 8 months now and find freedom in admitting it to others. You have great perspective already!

Theresa said...

I know that pain... I lost my 17 year old sister in a car accident 4 years ago. I remember a very real moment of the choice I had to make. I either had to believe that out of this God could bring good and trust in him 100% or I had to deny everything I knew and I couldn't do that. A couple of weeks later while going through my sister's room we found her Bible and in it was a card that she had filled out and dated. She had accepted Christ as her Savior over the summer. I sat on the floor of that room and cried. I grew up in a Catholic family and we were not born again, but out of all my siblings she was the most like me and obviously she was the only one who was ready (besides me) to meet her Savior. Two years later her boyfriend who had horrible guilt over the accident and had then gotten into drugs and crime was in jail and through a ministry in jail he also accepted Jesus as his Savior.

God worked through this tragedy and continues to do so.

Please let the family know that they are in my prayers.

Happy belated birthday as well. You have been a blessing to my life in the last couple of months that I have been reading your blog.

Praise and Coffee said...

Theresa, thanks so much for sharing that! What an awesome testimony!!!
God bless,
Sue

Elise said...

I am so sorry to read about that accident....my heart breaks for their family too, I pray that they will have peace and comfort that only the Lord can bring during this extremely sad time.

Welcome to your 40's, you are going to love it! I had my "big" one ealier this year. Happy Birthday!!!

Loved, loved, loved the John Piper video! My husband and I have been listening to his podcasts lately and he is so wise...I am going to send him the link also.

TammieFay said...

Oh Sue, I am so sorry for this loss. My heart just aches...will be praying.

Happy Birthday, sweetie and thank you for the John Piper video...powerful message...may it go out in achieving and accomplishing power (Isaiah 55:11).

PandaMom said...

So sorry for your loss, but grateful for heaven's gain. She sounded like a wonderful example.

Jewels of My Heart said...

I am so sorry for your friends... I just cannot imagine...
Will lift them up in prayer.
and Happy Birthday to you.

Kim said...

I'm sorry about your friends...how heart breaking for them!

Happy 40th...I will be following very soon!

Kim

Rhonda said...

Sue - What a day for you. A church family is really an extension of your own family. I know that the children of our friends are like our own kids. You must have felt as though you lost one of your own. As parents you just can't help but grieve. I am soo sorry for your friends. May the Comforter be their source through this.

Happy Birthday!!! I hit 40 in August 05. I enjoyed it and really felt as though it were just a number.

Bless you my friend!

julie said...

hello, found your blogsite and this utube video which is wonderful. can you tell me how you were able to "get" it on your blog? i too, have a blog and would like to put it on there as well and i don't know how to do it. if you have a moment to briefly describe how, let me know please. i certainly understand if you are unable to. may Jesus bless you and your family! thanks julie harris

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