Celebrating Life

Jeremy and I have said many times, we feel like we have a new sense of purpose in life.  God has proven to be all powerful and alive in our lives, especially over the last three months.  Our dear friends shared so much in our excitement and thankfulness to God, they coordinated a Celebrate Life Luau in Jeremy's honor.

Late Sunday afternoon, our family and 35+ of our closest friends celebrated Jeremy's healing, our new life perspective, and our God -- who gets all the glory for all we have come through.
It was a fabulous time of fellowship with food, laughter, games, family and fun.  When I looked around at all of the people there to celebrate Jeremy, I was moved to tears.  I wanted to explain our heartfelt gratitude to these loved ones who have walked by our side and, during the most difficult times, acted as the hands and feet of Christ carrying us through this trial.  But when I thought about what I would say, I couldn't swallow the lump in my throat... there was no way I could say everything I wanted to say, especially audibly through the inevitable tears and cries of joy and thankfulness.

When the hosts, the Bourdage and Shelnutt families, brought out the banner that they'd designed and printed, I lost any chance of getting past the emotions and making a speech.  It was a near life-size photo of Jeremy (the one posted on this blog), positioned next to a graphic of a long road/race track with a driver approaching a sign warning of the "bump" in the road, and a caption that read "So Long Sarcoma". Seeing my photo, my words and remembering all of the things I've felt and written along this journey on a banner in front of me brought indescribable emotions.  The banner even included the most recent (and now one of my favorite) scripture posted here from Psalms 29:1-2 of The Message.  The only way to stifle my cries , was to turn it into laughter and applaud the sweet work of these special friends.  No way could I share all of the things I felt that day for everyone there.

It was a beautiful day.  God blessed us with gorgeous weather, healthy children, safety for everyone there and a flawlessly orchestrated celebration of life.  What a special kick-off to the rest of our new life!  Thank you, to every one of our dear friends who joined us in person and in heart yesterday.  We love you dearly.

"Thank you for responding to me; you've truly become my salvation!  The stone the masons discarded as flawed is now the capstone!  This is God's work.  We rub our eyes -- we can hardly believe it!  This is the very day God acted -- let's celebrate and be festive!  Salvation now, God.  Salvation now!  Oh yes, God -- a free and full life!"  Psalm 118:24 (The Message)

Keri Bourdage, me and Karla Shelnutt 

Matthew and friends on the trampoline