30 years at Lawler.....my how the time flies...

Sunday, March 1, we celebrated my dad's 30th year at Lawler Baptist Church as Pastor.  There was a definite hole in our family Sunday as we celebrated.  Amanda loved Lawler and said that when she turned sixteen, she wanted to drive to Lawler each Sunday - it seemed that her heart never completely left that church. 

After the service, we visited Amanda's grave with friends and family who had not had the chance to see her headstone.  That grave is not where my daughter is.  It is merely a place to honor her life; a life that was well lived.

The day she died, this was part of our final conversation with her:

Amanda then began to “taste food.”  She laid there rolling it over in her mind what it was she was tasting.  Initially she said it was something mom had cooked before.  She eventually said, “No, it's a chocolate Krispy Kreme Doughnut” which drew a laugh from everyone.  A moment later she said, “I taste Lawler.”  We asked, “What do you mean you taste Lawler?”  She explained how what she was now smelling was so familiar that she could taste it.  She then said, “Such sweet memories.”  (Lawler is the church we attended for many years.  This is the church she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior and was baptized.  Her Papa Smith is also the pastor.  It will always be a special place to our family.)

While Sunday was an extremely difficult day without Amanda there in person, she was in all our hearts.  March 1 marks two years since Amanda had surgery to remove a portion of the tumor from her brain stem.  It was hard to keep the past in the past and focus on the here and now.  During the service, Melinda and I sang "Daddy's Hands" and I actually managed to sing the entire song without crying. I haven't been able to do that in a long time!  Thank you to all those friends and family that were praying for me - God gave me the strength to get through the song and I am so grateful!  I'm glad I didn't back out for fear of crying.  Although, after we were done singing, there was no holding the tears back.

The service was beautiful as we honored a man who, thirty years ago, took a bold step of obedience to God's call on his life to preach the gospel.  He has been a Pastor not only to Lawler, but to the entire community, and I am blessed to call him Daddy.

Here is a look back over the years at Lawler with Amanda:

Our day of celebration in pictures:

A beautiful centerpiece in Amanda's memory

 Hard to see, but the vase is etched with Amanda's initials, ALW

 

Four grandsons taking offering, what a special sight!

The details of the service were kept a secret. We even managed to keep who was preaching a surprise!  This was Blake's first time to preach in the states since returning from Africa. The Kimbroughs serve as missionaries in Zambia and we are glad to have them home for awhile!

My family.  As Jason said, "The 'A' is for Amanda, always with us."

I can't tell you how much we love the Kimbrough family - and it just happens to be a coincidence that Blake and Tom look so much alike!  Oh the trouble they could cause.....  ;)

We are blessed!

Here's to thirty more years! :)