One Final Post

This will be the FINAL POST on Abby’s Care Page site due to the fact that Care Pages is shutting down their entire site on October 31st. I never thought that the site would be closed down, but Care Pages has given us a digital download of all of the posts, messages and pictures from Abby’s site that we are going to store digitally in several different ways.

It is hard to put into words all that I want to say. My first post was on March 14, 2006, eleven days after Abby’s diagnosis. Since her death on August 17, 2011, it has been a way to post about her celebration of life service, her birthday, her angel day or a cancer fundraising day in her memory. The posts have gotten fewer and farther in between, but it has always been an option. This site has kept a part of Abby alive for longer and it has kept me connected to all of you for which I am very thankful.

This blog was my lifeline during Abby’s cancer journey. It is where I could write as much intricate detail about Abby’s condition and further process it myself as I communicated it to all of you. It is where we could ask for prayer requests at any time of the day or night for not only Abby but for Drew and Anna or any of our family during some of our darkest days. This site is where I communed with God as I stayed up into the wee hour of many nights listening to His gentle but firm nudges of what I needed to share, what Bible verses to lock onto and hold tight. It is where I met so many of Abby’s prayers warriors through your sweet encouraging messages but whom I have never met in person (but I know that I will meet you in Heaven one day if not on this Earth).

Paul, Drew, Anna and I can never truly thank you or sincerely express our gratitude to all of you for your care, encouragement, love, prayers and support. Each of you were our angels here on Earth. Your constant prayers on our behalf were our salvation in so many ways. Your messages back to us were rays of sunshine and hope and a manifestation of God’s love through you to us.

My dear friend, Sue Allen, writes a daily devotional blog. A recent posting was entitled “A Boulder or a Knapsack?” Here is an excerpt from it.

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ,” encourages Galatians 6:2 (NIV). But three verses later, in verse 5, we are told, “…for each one should carry their own load.” Which is it? Are we supposed to carry each other’s burdens or are we each supposed to carry our own load? A quote we read aloud in class sheds important light.

“The Greek words for burdens and load give us insight into the meaning of these texts. The Greek word for burdens means ‘excess burdens,’ or burdens that are so heavy they weight us down. These burdens are like boulders. They can crush us. We shouldn’t be expected to carry a boulder by ourselves! It would break our backs. We need help with our boulders – those times of crisis and tragedy in our lives.”

Thank you for helping us carry our “boulder” of Abby’s cancer. We could not have done it by ourselves. There is no doubt that you made our immense burden lighter by all the prayers and support that you offered us. Thank you for loving our Abby from this life into Eternity with God…May every pink sunset that you see remind you of a little girl named Abby Smith who lived her life full of grace and who knew that Jesus loved her (and will forever be Abbylicious!!)

In closing, I leave you with this final blessing. These words have been set to the tune of Edelweiss from the Sound of Music.

“May the Lord, Mighty God, bless and keep you forever. Grant you peace; perfect peace, courage in every endeavor. Lift up your eyes and see His face and His grace forever. May the Lord, Mighty God, bless and keep you forever.”

We Love You!!!

Paul, Cathy, Drew & Anna Smith