One of the lessons I have learned from Morgan’s passing is that she was a gift, only on loan to us from God, to teach me and other people whom she came in contact with, lessons or insight that only she could. For eternal reasons, her time on Earth was up, and it is up to me to take what she taught me, and what I have learned about myself and God since her passing, and use it for His purposes and glory. What can I do to Pay her Gift(s) Forward?
She liked to think that her contribution to the world would be in the medical field. She enjoyed the learning and the setting a lot. She was a really good employee and co-worker by all accounts, and I believe she would have succeeded on that career path. Indeed, there may come a time when her passing does make a huge difference in that field. That was one of the purposes of our trip to Birmingham last week.
Morgan loved to play beach volleyball and she was good at it, but she didn’t think of it as important. I now beg to differ, because it is the beach volleyball community that was influential in her life as a teen and a young adult, where almost all of her non-employment and school friendships came from. This is the area where some of the people who loved her are determined to make sure she is not forgotten by setting up the Memorial Beach Scholarship. I am looking forward to helping them do this over the next years. There are unseen ways that Morgan’s existence will be helping future girls.
On September 18th, I put up a guest post https://icantimagine.substack.com/p/guest-post-to-remember-tj
about T. J. Harden, the son of one of the regular readers here. His father, Roger, let me know in email that the other guest post I’d put up “Have You Not Heard, Do You Not Know?”
https://icantimagine.substack.com/p/have-you-not-heard-do-you-not-know
was influential in helping him help a newly broken-hearted mom from his place of employment. And both Roger and this woman decided to donate LEGO sets in honor of their children’s joy in building and fixing things. They will help to influence new young minds and only God knows (literally) how that ripples out.
Finally, a few weeks back, W3 had shared with me a picture her oldest daughter had sent to her, seeing a huge resemblance to their sister/daughter. Kristin had a zeal for not only telling people about how much Jesus loves them, but also showing them. She would do amazing things for people and not bat an eye. One of the things she had set up was a Care Closet at the local elementary school where needy children could pick out any kind of supplies or personal care items they might need. This Care Closet was recently dedicated in Kristin’s name and again, I believe there will be ripple effects unseen to we humans in the present time, not just from the Care Closet, but from every aspect of her life and personality. Look at these two pictures!! Look at the resemblance of that painting to Kristin (but it wasn’t created by anybody they know who knew her)
I also thought of something in a new way last night. I had previously wondered if our children got to make a connection in the heavenly realm once we made a connection down here, but I got to thinking that perhaps it is exactly the opposite. Maybe T.J. and Kristin are friends with Morgan up there, and it is their desires, along with God’s will, which allow the humans who love them to interact with each other down here. Just a twist!
The mantra is still “one day at a time,” but that is supposed to be wise for all of us, regardless of our circumstances. Yesterday is gone. Did you learn anything from it? Tomorrow may not even happen. What is in front of you TODAY? Who can you positively affect today?
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34 AMP
34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Matthew 6:34 MSG
A verse to cling to! Thank you for sharing your Morgan with us.
What an interesting twist! I'm sitting here picturing T.J., Morgan, Tanner, and now Kristen sitting around a table and talking....with gleams in their eyes and huge smiles on their faces as if they are almost scheming....and God, with His sense of humor and omnipresence, sitting back, smiling and nodding His approval.
I can also picture T.J. exclaiming "YES!!! I finally got him.....Dad never saw this one coming!"
And........I have a feeling there is SO much more good on the way that I can't possibly see coming.
Of course, that also makes me wonder who else they've recruited in this scheme and what wonders await from those friendships...
What an interesting ride this is turning into!