Admiration

       On February 8th, 2013, my niece, Lucy Dair Weathersby, went to join her heavenly Father. This also happened to be my 26th birthday but in a way, it felt just completely and utterly wrong to be celebrating my day of birth on the day that my sweet, tiny niece lost her chance of ever having one. The following day, my sister gave birth to her and it, to date, has been the saddest day in our families lives. Since then, the road, especially for my sister and brother in law, has been dark, broken, and at times hopeless. But at the same time, it has opened my eyes to just what kind of people I'm lucky to call my family. My brother in law, Josh, has (in my mind) done what no man could do. He has supported and loved my sister with immeasurable patience, kindness and strength. Its no lie that, due to my divorce and loss of that dream, I have a bit of a skeptical outlook on "marriage" and "true love"...but because of my sweet brother in law and his utter devotion to my sister, I can say that (while it may not be much) I do have the slightest hope that somewhere out there, maybe there are other men like Josh.

      Now it comes to my sister. Never in our entire lives did I realize, until now, what a hell of a woman she is. For those of you who have read Proverbs 31, you know then what it takes to be a "Proverbs 31 Woman"...My mother and grandmother have been the only two women that I truly ever considered worthy of such titles, but I now know three women who deserve it. Verses 28-30 say, "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also and he praises her : 'Many women do noble things but you surpass them all.'  Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."                     My sister, Bethany, lost her only daughter and unlike a lot of other women, was also stripped of the chance to just try again. Here is a woman who had every right to be mad at God, to blame Him, to question Him, to turn away from Him. But instead she chose to trust Him, to not question Him, to draw closer to Him and to use her experience to tell others about Him. Through the darkest days of her life I have been touched by this woman more than any other person has touched me. I have never seen such strength, such godliness. When I look at her I see a peace that I've never seen, and I don't know about you but I want that. I hope someday, I can be like her. I can reflect my Maker like she does. I can only imagine how proud God is of His child. And if I could bet, I would bet money that He tells Lucy of the amazing woman that is her mother. What I've written are just my words, you guys should check out for yourself the incredible story of my sister, brother in law, nephews and niece. My sister has a blog, http://losinglucyandfindinghope.wordpress.com/, and I promise if you take the time to read it, you will walk away with more than you started with. 

    On a closing note, I know that every year, my birthday will be a day of sadness. I know this. But I also feel like I have a special bond with that niece of mine because of it. And some day, when I get to heaven, I'll get to celebrate that day instead of mourn it...and ill get to do it with alongside that beautiful girl. Go check out that blog now. 

 My AMAZEBALLS sister and my wonderful nephews