Today's post is in honor of one of my true and constant Gamma Phi sisters & the lost she still feels today...
see link for today's omaha.com article...
http://www.omaha.com/article/20110416/BIGRED/704169712
Fifteen years ago I was a junior in college at Kansas State. I worked at an optometrist trying to make ends meet. I was a rule follower, at least when it came to work... work = money for a college student...
I felt the urge to call in sick, something I hadn't done at this job, feeling luck to have it. The doctor was great about working around my class schedule.... but the urge persisted and I called in... faking an illness...
It was steak night at my sorority... a once a month treat... I would get to enjoy my steak & eat it too, table side with my friends... most meals were eaten out of a styrofoam box, solo in the house basement, after I returned from work.... the food packed and stored in the fridge by our "kitchen boy."
Another sorority sister waitressed at an Aggieville bar... 12th Street, now Kites I think, .... the phone rang that Thursday afternoon... it was Grosko, calling from 12th Street.... turn on ESPN.... they are broadcasting Brook Berringer was killed in a plane crash.
"You're crazy!" I replied.... "Drue is upstaris in Loser Lane taking a shower to go out tonight." .... "Go tell her...."
So up the stairs I went... entering the pink tiled communal bath.... "Drue, have you talked to your mom today?" I asked. "No, you better shower & get ready so we can go out," she replied.
"Drue, get out of the shower & call you mom, please?"
... the Lord had plans for me to be there that day... for my friend...
After this, my western Kansas friends life began to spiral ... how could this be? The NFL draft was 2 days away... the draft that was supposed to take Drue's brother to the NFL....
Dozens of Gamma Phi's made the 8 hour trip to Goodland, Kansas...to pay our respects... camping out on another sister's parents basement floor .... but what I remember most is a request to pray before we left the house we stayed in .... all of us... 2 dozen at least... held hands and prayed in a circle of sister-ly unity.... a circle of witnesses...
But the Lord had different plans that day.... Jeremiah 29:11 (New Living Translation)
"11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
Many of us questioned the Lord... why? .... a man of fame, importance, a man who spread Your word?...
The answer why never really came... but we can look to the words of wisdom Isaiah shares about comfort in the Lord .... Isaiah 43
The Savior of Israel
" 1.....the one who formed you says,
'Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.'
4 ...' you are precious to me.
You are honored, and I love you.'
5 'Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will gather you and your children from east and west.' "
Isaiah 49 " 16 See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
Always in my mind..."
I'm not sure why, but this story is the only way I know to end this....
"A woman is laid to rest in her coffin with a fork in her right hand...
all the people at the funeral ponder this, confused by the fork...
During the dinner following the funeral a family member stands to pray for the meal & includes this story from the bereaved....
'At community & church dinners (especially in small towns) your are told to 'hold onto your fork' for the dessert to follow the meal... Aunt Suzi's peach cobbler... Granny's almond cake...
My dear friends, I am holding a fork today, because I have left this world... but I have gone to meet my maker... to laugh and dance and sing with Jesus my Savior... and friends... heaven is like the dessert you saved your fork for ... the best is yet to come' ....."
Becca....I'm weeping...for so many things in your story! I am so in awe how you were open to the prodding of Spirit (I'm starting to say Holy Spirit or Spirit instead of THE Holy Spirit or THE Spirit so that this being of the trinity becomes more personal to me)and that you were there for your friend...amazing!
ReplyDeleteAnd you know how this passage recently spoke to me...although "spoke to me" sounds so mild considering the impact it really had on me. I do love the New International Reader's version: "You are priceless to me. I love you and honor you."
God HONORS me! God honors ME!! How humbling yet how powerful that is.
I sure do love you, my girlfriend in God. Thank you for not giving up on me :)
Big hugs to you Becca. I remember you by my side as we tried to find out if it was true (because a local reporter put it on the AP wire before identities were confirmed and family was notified). I miss him like crazy and am sad for me that I don't get to call him or see him to share my life and his anymore. But I'm not sad for him. He was the kind of guy that did more in his 22 years than most 70 year olds have done. He didn't waste a minute and not just by doing the fun stuff. My family was in Lincoln over the weekend to honor young college football players who follow his example of serving with the Brook Berringer Citizenship Team. He spoke to schools, signed autographs, visited hospitals and shared his foundation of Christ. Many of his teammates that had heard him talk all those years committed their lives to Christ on that trip to Goodland. Brook... he was ready... and he is rewarded beyond our wildest imaginations. And its all there for us to, when that time comes. Thanks for always being a good friend and being there. I love you. Thanks for your post.
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