Our sweet Sara...

She burst onto the blogging scene with that cute white pup of hers (Riley) as her avatar.  I discovered she had started blogging at the same point as I had.  She was very witty, had such a way with words, and loved God with all her heart.

Our friendship was immediate and went deep very quickly.  Our connection grew as we shared stories from our past, or the difficulty in the day we had, or how funny Riley looked in his Halloween costumes.  And sometimes she'd take a blogging break when her breathing was bad and she was having pain and difficulty moving around.  But then she'd bounce back and I would get so excited to see that smiling face show up and be so relieved she was doing better again.  But she underplayed it all never wanting us to worry about her.

In the three years I have known her she taught me about grace in the face of illness.  She told me to always chose joy and to live with intention.  She sent me a handcrafted canvas with the words "It not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived. "  I think I treasure it most because it describes exactly the kind of person she is.

For someone who spent her days confined inside her condo due to her illness, Sara lived a BIG life, and scattered much.  She scattered faith, love, joy, encouragement, and wit.  For not having ever met her in person, she had a huge influence on me and my life.  I'm so glad I told her.  And recently too.  She wrote to me after I returned home from the hospital after the mastectomy and was never shy about telling you how much you meant to her.  So I told her how she has mentored me, and that I adored her and loved her and how much she meant to me.

Then last week my gratitude journal went missing.  And what I haven't shared about it, is that Sara sent it to me one Christmas for a surprise present.  So I have been doubly sad in having it drop from my sight.  I'll never know if it was meant as a sign or not.

It turns out the journal isn't the only thing missing...

Sara is also leaving us.

Today, Sara surrounded by her family, and hospice,  is making her heavenly journey homeward, as my heart is both rejoicing and breaking at the same time.  I don't think any of us could have known this last blog hiatus would be the last hiatus.  So the news has been hard to digest and process.  But what I do know is she will soon be with Our Father, and reunited with her father, and able to breathe deeply, sing loudly,  and do all the things her body no longer allowed her to do here on earth.

I miss her already.  I'm praying her home, will you help me?