A Legacy of Vision and Purpose

 

My twenty-two year old niece Montgomery passed away last week. So sudden. So unexpected. When I heard the news, I could not comprehend it. “Montgomery?” I said to my husband as he sat in a crumpled heap on the very spot of sidewalk where he was once standing when he received the call. He could only nod his head “yes” through the tears and cries of pain that had overtaken his body.

My mind began to race. “How can this be? She’s too young! What happened? Maybe I didn’t hear that right…” I thought back to that early morning phone call we had received years ago announcing her safe arrival into the world. Her daddy’s voice was bursting with pride as we were jolted out of our sleep. Now we were being jolted once again.



 

I wandered through the next hours and days in a bewildered state of shock. We learned that Montgomery had a congenital heart defect that had gone undetected. Her young heart had simply given out that morning. Most people who are born with this issue often do not live past their first birthday. How fortunate and blessed we were to have her for as long as we did.

 

Memories flooded my mind as the tears flooded my eyes.  We had shared so much together. Laughing, playing, singing silly songs, talking about life, lots of hugs, and all of those precious times we spent praying together.  I began to wonder…Did she know how much I really loved her? Did she know how proud I was of her? I sure hope that she did.



As we entered the church on Saturday for her Celebration of Life service, we were given a leaflet that included some pictures and basic information about her life. Also included were some words that Montgomery had written in her journal. She had written out her personal vision, a contract that outlined how she wanted to live her life. Here are her words:

I promise…

to go into every situation with an open heart and mind

to mean what I say and say what I mean

to learn to calmly stand up for myself

to be grateful everyday of all of the miracles in my life

to give light and love in everything I do

to meditate everyday

to put myself in other people’s shoes once in a while

to laugh everyday so I don’t forget how

to smile at myself in the mirror and love myself

to not forget where I have been

to know how I got to where I am now

to hold my ground when I truly think something isn’t right

to realize when I am wrong and to apologize sincerely

to learn something new everyday

to use my creative mind so it doesn’t go to waste

to know when I can help someone else

to remember why I don’t want to live the way I used to

to love my changes

to give good vibes to the world

to live and love simply

to eventually change the world

to love my life

What a tremendous gift those words are to me and all who would read them! She set out to live her life with vision and purpose, resolved to be the best possible version of herself she could be.  As we honor her memory, I pray that we all will approach each new day we are given with intention, passionately pursuing the purpose that God has placed within each of us.

Montgomery’s light continues to shine through her darling little daughter and her impact will be felt for years to come. She said that she wanted “to eventually change the world.” She already did.

My One Word for 2014

Wow- only one week into the New Year and I already feel like I’m running to catch up! I didn’t plan to take such an extended blogging break, but I also didn’t plan to be sick for most of the last two months. The rotten cold symptoms started on Halloween and persisted through much of December. I also had an infection in each of my eyes. In short, I was a mess! My youngest daughter was also sick, although she recovered more quickly than I did. My husband had strep throat and bronchitis in December, so we were miserable together. Thankfully we were on the mend just in time for Christmas. We did ALL of our holiday shopping (groceries, gifts, wrapping paper, etc.) the weekend before Christmas! Somehow everything came together and we had a nice holiday. 

In the midst of it all, I did manage to spend some time thinking about what my “one word” will be for 2014. Instead of making resolutions that I will never keep, I choose just one word that represents what I want to focus on throughout the year.  I’ve been doing this for several years now and I have experienced more personal growth using this method than any other I’ve tried.

I started to consider what my word would be around mid-November. My first thought was the word change. I immediately decided that I was only thinking about that word because the coming year brings with it some obvious changes for our family. Our youngest is graduating from high school in May and will be moving away to attend college in August. We will be "empty nesters." It’s only natural that I would think of that word, but that can’t be my “one word.”

Throughout the next couple of weeks my thoughts just continued to circle around to the word change. I kept trying to avoid it because that word makes me nervous. Change is often difficult. It can be messy and inconvenient. I had flashbacks to the 15 moves we made during the first 15 years of our married life. Why couldn’t my word be beauty or bliss or serene? Those sounded much less threatening to me. I kept trying, but I just couldn’t get away from that word. 

About mid-December my husband asked me if I had my “one word” for 2014 yet. I told him that I had something I kept thinking about, but I wasn’t particularly happy with it. When I said that the word was change, he got this surprised look on his face and said,  "Are you serious? That’s the word I’ve been thinking about, too!" Well, isn’t that great?! Not only has God been speaking to me about change, but He’s also speaking to my husband about it! I was officially nervous and a bit freaked-out. 

Now that I’ve had some more time to think and let that word settle into my heart, I’m still a bit apprehensive, but I’m also excited. Change can be challenging. It requires something of me. Or a whole lot of me. However, it doesn’t have to be negative. From a practical perspective, I know that this is a time of preparation for the future changes our family is already anticipating. So, I have decided to embrace the process and trust that God will see me through. Even in the midst of change, He is constant and ever-faithful. The plans that He has for me are good. With this in mind, I boldly declare that my word for 2014 is change. Let the adventures begin!

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. ~Isaiah 54:10