Since Billy and I spent most of our lives in New Jersey, everywhere we turned there were more memories to laugh about and share with our kids. The most significant though, by far, is sharing Aunt Mandie with them. She died on August 4, 1999 right at the entrance to the development where I lived. Now in Amanda Field's honor stands a sign and recreation complex dedicated to her: Amanda's Field. A church in India and part of a Christian school in Mexico have also been dedicated to her honor, but to have the kids see where she went to heaven and play where her name stands is pretty special.
Just around the bend stands the house Billy grew up in from three years old til about ten years old. "So he lived there when he was my age?" Eric asks. "Cool." We snapped this shot on a visit Billy and I took back in February. The house stood right next to the road, right next to the road. So the current owners, the couple that bought it from the Hasselmans' twenty years ago, decided to crank it...inch by inch, back further in the lot. Pretty amazing!
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| Back at the park...Ella and Daddy both thought they were out the door too early. |
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| They gathered up some steam to play, while Mommy sipped her Wawa coffee. I filled up my travel mug everyday. |
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| We called Ava "Monkey girl." |
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| Cailin wanted to climb like a monkey, too. |
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| How I wish Aunt Mandie could be in this photo! (And how I wish I slept the night before!) |
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| This is what Billy's old house looks like today. I practically screamed when I saw the house had quadroupled in size. Billy knocked on the front door and pressed his luck to see if the owners were home. The lady of the house answered and asked, "Are you a Hasselman?" He got the grand tour. What a sight it must have been! |
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| Mandie's memory still affects people today. She died an fifteen year old girl. And anyone who knew her, knew she was in love with Jesus. Her journal entries stated, "It was the love of Jesus that saved me." It's true. Every year August the 4th rolls around and it hits me. This isn't our home. During my trip I began reading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It's about the vast love God has for us. I am convicted of so much that I won't get into right now. But I will end with this... |
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:13-14
Make it count.
