Memorial Dedication at Grace Academy on Amanda's Birthday

On Tuesday, Amanda's birthday, we attended a special dedication ceremony in memory of Amanda at Grace Academy.

I began working at Grace as the receptionist when Brandon was in the first grade.  At that point, Amanda was in Pre-K, so she spent many a morning sitting behind my desk waiting for Aunt Jo Jo to come pick her up and take her to her "school."  Amanda loved Grace Academy.  She was proud of her school, loved her peers, and loved to get up every day to go to class. 

We are so grateful to the family at Grace Academy and how they have supported us throughout this trial.  This special memorial for her on campus is a touching tribute to our family.  I don't think I can adequately say just how much it means to me.  It was born out of the love from the students and families that wanted to honor her life, and it is beautiful.

The morning in pictures......
Just a few different views from the bench:

Our property is gorgeous,. You can sit and view the sunrise from the bench.

It was a small family affair with just the student body, staff, faculty and board along with our family and both sets of grandparents.

Dr. Diener did a wonderful job keeping us focused on the hope we have in Christ. 

"Since Amanda's passing, many of our our community members have asked what they can do and have expressed a heartfelt desire to do something, like place a memorial here on campus in honor of Amanda's life and our memories of her."  He then quoted from  1 Thessalonians chapter 4:
¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵ For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.
"We all grieve Amanda's death in different ways.  I encourage you that we grieve, but that we grieve as those who have hope in a God who is eternal and who provides eternal life.  And we know that one day we will share that again with Amanda, even as we were able to share a few short years with her here on this earth."

This view is from a tree on the school playground that Amanda was always playing around.  Thank you Susan, for remembering that about our girl.

Tom shared a few words with the students:

"There are three things that I can remember Amanda loved and cherished here on earth.  In no particular order, they were horses, her family and of course Grace Academy; the students, the teachers and everything that Grace Academy encompasses. She loved her friends and they always welcomed her back with open arms when she would come back here.  Teachers, there was never a year that she she had any complaints.  She loved coming to school and it was one of the things she looked forward to being back to, coming back to Grace Academy.  Mrs. Moore sent us an email shortly after her passing that said in Latin, Amanda's name meant, "A girl who must be loved."  And that was Amanda, wasn't it? She was loving, she was kind, she was good.  She was a joyful human being.  As I began thinking more and more about that, I thought of what Paul told the church of Ephesus:  to live your life worthy of the calling for that which you have been called.   And Amanda did that.  She lived her life worthy of the calling for which she was called for.  I just want to tell you that each one of you also, in Jesus Christ, have a purpose and have a calling.  This beautiful bench here; my prayer will be that when you look upon it, whether you sit here for rest or for prayer, or whether you are on the campus and see it from a distance; that you would think of Amanda, and think of a girl that is worthy of love.  But also that you would think of your calling and your purpose in Christ. You are very special to us and will always be family.  We love you very much."

We sang the beautiful hymn, "Great is Thy Faithfulness"

Mr. Cauley, praying and blessing the bench.

  "Students, this is a pretty special place.  This land, this property has been prayed over for more than a decade that God would powerfully move in the hearts and minds and lives of the people who come here.  And now this place becomes a very sacred place.  A place where we remember Amanda Watson.  A child God knew before he created stars and planets.  A child he chose to be his own and a child who was preciously knit together in her mother's womb and brought onto this planet for His glory and our great joy.  Amanda Watson's life was amazing.  The light that came out of her life and her family is still reverberating around the globe right now.  While people in Africa are reading the blog, people in Asia are reading the blog; they are being stirred in the depths of their being over a God who walks people through suffering in life, because of Amanda and her family.  This place is not only a celebration of her life, but a challenge to you.  What will your life mean? What difference will your life make? That's our prayer for this, that as we come here, we remember that this life if short - the next one is forever.  We have a God who loves you. A God who changes things. A God who has an amazing purpose for your life - if you will, like Amanda, like the Watsons, surrender your heart to Him by faith. So let's pray over this area, thanking God for Amanda.  Let this be a place where her life is remembered, let it be a sacred place where adults and students remember that this life is short;  so live with purpose and live for His Glory."  

In memory of Amanda, each member of her class wrote her a note of a special memory or a bible verse. and placed it inside the balloons.  They then released them in celebration of her best birthday ever.   I love these kids so much.

 

I love these ladies.  And yes....that is Brandon photo-bombing the picture....

Behind the scenes of how a good shot happens...

Now, a decent picture of me and the ladies I love so much.  These women hold me accountable to what God's word says - about me, about this journey we have been on and they remind me of His glorious, never ending mercies.

I. Love. This. Picture!!  Me and my momma.

Amanda's life has reached so very many people.  This beautiful bench was donated to Lawler Baptist Church in Florence, were my dad is the pastor, and is located in the prayer garden on the hill behind the sanctuary.  It has a lovely view of Amanda's final resting place.

We continue to celebrate Amanda's life everyday and find joy in the impact she has had on so many people.

Throughout the darkness of my pain, grieving and heartbreak, God's love and blessings still somehow manages to break through and shine brighter.... and for that I am grateful.

Blessed.  Loved.  Thankful.

Isaiah 12:2
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation."