Amy Day

My calendar is marked on August 26 as Amy Day. It is not a holiday celebrated by everyone, nor is it a holiday even known by many, but to my family it is an important day. A day that brings tears, a day that brings sad memories and sweet memories. A day that brings celebration and hope.

On August 26, 1998 that my sweet niece Amy passed from this earth to another home, her eternal home.

It was in July of 1998 that Amy came to Honduras on a mission trip and fell in love with this country, the people, and the experience here. I still remember her talking in the hospital about coming back to Honduras. She is here in so many ways! Her life continues to impact people in the United States and in Honduras. It was her loving spirit, the spirit that Jesus put in her, that attracted so many to her and allowed her to make a difference in many lives. At the time I never in my wildest of dreams thought I would be called to this place. Coming here the first time helped to heal many places in my heart. I went from hating this place that I blamed for taking Amy, to loving it with the passion she did.

Amy I love you! I miss you! I cherish the memories I have and the impact you made in my life! My "little niece"!

I love this poem....

Parable of immortality ( A ship leaves . . . ) by Henry Van Dyke - 1852 - 1933

I am standing by the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sun and sky come down to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says : - 'There she goes!

Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the places of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says: - 'There she goes! ', there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout : - 'Here she comes!'

Amy I love you! I lknow that one day she will be waving to me to welcome me into Heaven, and I am thankful that we have that hope for our future! Thankful that Jesus made a way for us.

So as I lay down tonight to sleep and remember, it brings tears, yet I have joy.

Tomorrow to many it is just a day, not unlike any other, but to me it is Amy Day. A day to remember, a day to honor a special girl, a day to be thankful to my God for taking care of my Amy.