Monday, July 16, 2007
My sister and the bebe
So, my sister, Kaylee, just had a baby, Malaki. He is very very cute. I have pictures here of her baby shower, which I was going to write about, but I don't really feel like it, so I wont, lots of commas. So, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Let me take you on a journey, if you will, through digital imagery.
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Dearly Departed part 2
I'm going to continue with my regularly scheduled broadcast even though my sister just had her baby!!! I'll give you all the details that I have right now. I'm in New Jersey so I haven't yet seen the little tyke, so we'll all just have to wait for pictures and such. All I have for now is that his name is Malaki Tyler Pitkin and he was born July 12th at 3:26 pm. He weighed 6lbs 5oz and my mom says he's healthy as a little baby horsey. My sister had to have an emergency c-section, but she's recovering fine. I can't wait to see him!! I'm an AUNT!!
Anyways, that seems a bizarre first paragraph to open up this post about my late friend Joey Burch. However, I haven't given his memory justice and I haven't really ever talked about his death to anyone. However weird, I feel like now that I've resolved to just get it over with, I can't put it off any longer, especially because I have no more details than a paragraph's worth about my nephew.
So, to begin. Joey Burch was in my sister's grade. I knew his older brother because he was a year younger than me in school and they went to one of my elementary schools in Virginia. I watched Joey grow up alongside my sister. I remember him as this:
He was seriously the funniest kid I ever met. He was constantly making jokes, constantly messing around, but never really causing trouble. He was really a good kid. He was a freshman in highschool when I left for college and I didn't really ever see him after that, maybe once or twice, but from what I remember then, he was excited about the Lord as well. I went to his youth group every so often because it was close to my house, and I remember him worshiping the Lord.
My friend Phoebe called me one day last summer and told me that Joey had been in a car crash near where I used to live and that he had died. I was shocked. My first reaction was, why Joey? I didn't feel like Joey was expendible enough to be taken that early. Maybe it's because I knew him or that I valued his presence and I knew that other people felt the same. When Joey was in the room, you knew he was there. I thought, surely God would want to keep someone like that around. He was the pastor's son! Surely God had a plan for this kid. Before that, anyone I had known that had died had been old or, forgive me, more boring than Joey Burch.
It was the first time that I realized that I'm not any different than Joey. I really could die tomorrow even though men have made great plans for me. I sometimes think that there's no way I could die before I'm eighty because God has blessed me with a strange uniqueness and that there is no one else like me out there. Then I remember Joey. There is no one like him and the world has suffered a loss. He and his brother Ben were very close and I can't imagine losing my sister. Please pray for Joey's parents and Ben, especially as the one year anniversary of his brother's death, August 5th, approaches. I can't wait to see Joey again and I'm curious to see how his sense of humor has been divinely perfected.
Anyways, that seems a bizarre first paragraph to open up this post about my late friend Joey Burch. However, I haven't given his memory justice and I haven't really ever talked about his death to anyone. However weird, I feel like now that I've resolved to just get it over with, I can't put it off any longer, especially because I have no more details than a paragraph's worth about my nephew.
So, to begin. Joey Burch was in my sister's grade. I knew his older brother because he was a year younger than me in school and they went to one of my elementary schools in Virginia. I watched Joey grow up alongside my sister. I remember him as this:
He was seriously the funniest kid I ever met. He was constantly making jokes, constantly messing around, but never really causing trouble. He was really a good kid. He was a freshman in highschool when I left for college and I didn't really ever see him after that, maybe once or twice, but from what I remember then, he was excited about the Lord as well. I went to his youth group every so often because it was close to my house, and I remember him worshiping the Lord.
My friend Phoebe called me one day last summer and told me that Joey had been in a car crash near where I used to live and that he had died. I was shocked. My first reaction was, why Joey? I didn't feel like Joey was expendible enough to be taken that early. Maybe it's because I knew him or that I valued his presence and I knew that other people felt the same. When Joey was in the room, you knew he was there. I thought, surely God would want to keep someone like that around. He was the pastor's son! Surely God had a plan for this kid. Before that, anyone I had known that had died had been old or, forgive me, more boring than Joey Burch.
It was the first time that I realized that I'm not any different than Joey. I really could die tomorrow even though men have made great plans for me. I sometimes think that there's no way I could die before I'm eighty because God has blessed me with a strange uniqueness and that there is no one else like me out there. Then I remember Joey. There is no one like him and the world has suffered a loss. He and his brother Ben were very close and I can't imagine losing my sister. Please pray for Joey's parents and Ben, especially as the one year anniversary of his brother's death, August 5th, approaches. I can't wait to see Joey again and I'm curious to see how his sense of humor has been divinely perfected.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Dearly Departed part 1
One of the youth group pastors I had in middle school right after I became a Christian was Dave Cho. He was a really funny Asian guy who was reknowned for his practical joking and Asian jokes. He was a good pastor though. This last semester I found out that he had cancer and that he only had like two months to live. I prayed like everyone else, not really expecting him to die, after all, he had a baby on the way. His fifth child was born just days after he died.
His funeral was supposed to be the day that his wife, Shelbie, had her baby. I was going to miss the funeral because I was at the beach, but because Shelbie was in labor, they postponed the funeral for a little over a week.
I got home on a Friday and on the following Wednesday I drove up to Virginia and I met some of my closest friends under what I wish were different circumstances. It was a bittersweet day. I saw a lot of people I haven't seen in years and was feeling a little guilty because I was enjoying the chance to see so many people I missed in such close proximity. I think funerals suck that way. Why can't we all just get together every so often?
David Cho was a godly man and a godly father, husband and pastor. There were hundreds of people at his funeral. The ripple effect that this man's life had on his community was insane. There were people there from California. There were people who stood up and talked about how Dave brought them to know the Lord and now they were in positions of influence and were still inspired by his passion. His wife didn't speak because she couldn't, but she wrote a letter to everyone about the kind of father and husband that Dave was. I almost lost it. Because Dave knew he was going to die, he recorded a video to be played at his funeral. You can watch it- it's an awesome testimony to never-ending joy in any circumstance. I highly recommend it even if you have no idea who this guy is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qly_9HETHhs&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdavidchoproject%2Ecom%2F
I look forward to catching up with Dave someday and I can only hope that my life has as much impact as his still does. Take a minute and pray for his wife Shelbie and his five kids- Abigail (6), Samantha (4), David Jr. (3), Charis (2) and Liam (about a month old.
His funeral was supposed to be the day that his wife, Shelbie, had her baby. I was going to miss the funeral because I was at the beach, but because Shelbie was in labor, they postponed the funeral for a little over a week.
I got home on a Friday and on the following Wednesday I drove up to Virginia and I met some of my closest friends under what I wish were different circumstances. It was a bittersweet day. I saw a lot of people I haven't seen in years and was feeling a little guilty because I was enjoying the chance to see so many people I missed in such close proximity. I think funerals suck that way. Why can't we all just get together every so often?
David Cho was a godly man and a godly father, husband and pastor. There were hundreds of people at his funeral. The ripple effect that this man's life had on his community was insane. There were people there from California. There were people who stood up and talked about how Dave brought them to know the Lord and now they were in positions of influence and were still inspired by his passion. His wife didn't speak because she couldn't, but she wrote a letter to everyone about the kind of father and husband that Dave was. I almost lost it. Because Dave knew he was going to die, he recorded a video to be played at his funeral. You can watch it- it's an awesome testimony to never-ending joy in any circumstance. I highly recommend it even if you have no idea who this guy is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qly_9HETHhs&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdavidchoproject%2Ecom%2F
I look forward to catching up with Dave someday and I can only hope that my life has as much impact as his still does. Take a minute and pray for his wife Shelbie and his five kids- Abigail (6), Samantha (4), David Jr. (3), Charis (2) and Liam (about a month old.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Things to come...
Okay guys, get ready.
A LOT of stuff has happened since I've gotten home. And by a lot I mean...
A funeral, a wedding, a babyshower, a first date, summer camp at the beach, a trip to Mexico, a wedding, a broken record, new worries, spiritual development, and a new brother-in-law.
That's only the big stuff. So, for the next two weeks while I'm up here in New Jersey, I will be filling you all in on all the oh-so-very exciting events in my very exciting life. But alas, not today. This is my short intro blog. Say hi short intro blog.
"Hi."
Now that you've all become aquainted, please stay tuned for what I'd like to call "The Here-you-go-you-bunch-of-nosies Series."
And now a word from our sponsors:
A LOT of stuff has happened since I've gotten home. And by a lot I mean...
A funeral, a wedding, a babyshower, a first date, summer camp at the beach, a trip to Mexico, a wedding, a broken record, new worries, spiritual development, and a new brother-in-law.
That's only the big stuff. So, for the next two weeks while I'm up here in New Jersey, I will be filling you all in on all the oh-so-very exciting events in my very exciting life. But alas, not today. This is my short intro blog. Say hi short intro blog.
"Hi."
Now that you've all become aquainted, please stay tuned for what I'd like to call "The Here-you-go-you-bunch-of-nosies Series."
And now a word from our sponsors:
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