[Disclaimer: This post might seem all over the place, so sorry for that. Hope you're able to follow along & it makes sense.]
I will never forget the news I received on new years, my best friend had been killed. Hearing those words through the phone, I panicked and felt like I was in a movie. This wasn't happening, it's not real life. I had just hung out with her the day before and talked to her the day she was killed...no.
The days following her death seemed like a blur. I forget all who I talked to but one person I will always remember talking to right away was God.
I cried out, literally, tears in my eyes and a heavy heart and I prayed for strength because I knew that in my own strength I was not going to be able to get through this.
My friend, Lauren, that was tragically killed was an amazing person. She was a wonderful, loving, caring, kind person. She had a passion for helping people. She was in the middle of Physician Assistant school where she was set to graduate this December. She went to Guatemala to help out the less fortunate and was planning to go back again this spring.
I met her in 2011 on a mission trip. We instantly hit it off and I knew we were going to remain close, and we did. After a year, she applied to PA school and got in. I remember the day she told me she was going to Arkansas and I was so happy but so sad she was leaving Texas. I knew she would love it though and she did. She visited her family whenever she could and when she was in town we always made sure to hang out. While she was away we snap-chated, texted, had coffee dates over FaceTime and sent each other cards in the mail. She was such a joy in my life. She's my best friend.
Lauren was 24 when she went to heaven. Honestly, when I first heard about my best friend I found myself getting upset that she was taken so young, but then I saw all the people Lauren has influenced and I know will continue to influence by the example of the life she lived and by her love for the Lord in her 24 years on earth and I can't help but to be so happy. To see people that didn't even know her cry to me saying they didn't know her but she effected them is simply crazy (in a bittersweet way). I know that she is so so happy being able to see all the people that have been impacted by the way she lived her life.
She lived her life fearlessly but God fearing. I have never meet anyone that had so much kindness and love in their heart for people and especially for the Lord.
My heart aches and hurts because it's difficult to imagine life without her. I know I will think about her every day and how she lived her life and how I so badly wish she was here again.
Live Like Lauren. I'm not sure who came up with this saying/hashtag but it's perfect. The life that Lauren lived was sweet. She loved everyone, no matter who you were she loved you. She cared for people and genuinely wanted to help them. (The profession she was going into was perfect for that.)
When you think about this life we're living, it's just a blink of an eye compared to eternity. We think that some of the decisions we make are the hardest decisions of our life's, but when you look at the grand scheme of things and remember that this is not our home, it makes you think a little. What are you living for? Are you living for the Lord or are you living for yourself?
Lauren wrote a blog and in her last post on Nov. 16th she talks about that. That it doesn't matter what job you have or what car you drive, at the end of the day what matters most is what you're doing for the Kingdom of the Lord.
I highly recommend you read her last blog post called "Success": labump.blogspot.com
"He is also our Father, and what a father does is not by any means always understood by the child. If he loves the child, however, the child trusts him." -Elisabeth Elliot
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♡Gabriella June
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