Even thru loss we can gain.

Life has a way of becoming really straight up real in the matter of moments. It can suck the very breath of us right out without us having a clue what happened.

We can be ridin the tides one moment and crashed upon the rocks and suck under the next. It seems to take losing greatly to awaken us. To open our eyes. For us to understand fully and completely what life is truly all about. We are robbed of what could have been but are left with the seed of hope.

Hope to love more. Hope to understand. Hope to be kind. Hope to show compassion. Hope for a better tomorrow. Hope for strength. Hope we hold onto what truly counts...what truly matters....

I pray that in loss we are able to see the gift we gain...for each life and death holds lessons...and even if we don't want to know them...we are forced to know them.

May we be inspired to be more of the people we are meant to be...may we strive for happiness in all corners of life...may we find smiles upon our faces...may our laughter echo and fill a room...may we want more from life...may we still believe...still hope and still keep the faith...may we truly believe this world is more because they were here and not less because they are gone....in the end I think...no I know that is the best way to honor those we loss...its the greatest gift we could possibly ever give...to live the life we would have lived if they were still here with us...that our lives aren't less...that we aren't less as a person because they are gone...if anything we are more...because of their love...for even in death...in loss when we think we have been stripped...there are things we can gain...there is greatness we can still find...

Taken too quickly

I didn't know her. I never got a chance to meet her. But I have many friends who did. Her story has touched my life and changed me. Knowing her story makes me feel in some ways that I know her.

She was just 21. She was healthy and full of life. She had the world just at her grasp. A twin sister I have been told, a loving family and a handsome & kind boyfriend. She was a Bison and so I have been told a true friend. I know many are trying to come to terms of her passing. Trying to hold the cards of life that no longer contain her presence, her laughter, her smile, her voice. Trying to search for answers to all their why's. So many are shedding tears to the point where the tears have gone dry.

Death is never easy. It never makes sense, it always leaves us with un-answered thoughts and questions. And most of the time we don't fully understand until year and years later -- yet sometimes its not until this life is over do we fully grasp the true lessons a person's life has in this world and in our life. Tonight I pray for the life of Lindsey Cunningham. Tonight I pray for her family and friends. I pray that the angels lead her into paradise. I pray that she is now free of pain and cancer itself. I pray Lord that you hold her loved ones in your arms and bring them strength to face the days to come... and give them hope that life is meant to go on even thou its so very hard not to without her. Even I know, without even knowing her, she was taken too quickly...much too soon.