God has funny ways of working in peoples’ lives. How is it that He can over and over again do the very thing we don’t want Him to do, and then we end up realizing how wise, how loving, how wonderful He is when He does it anyway?
I didn’t want God to take Nathan. When I was 17, I woke up in the middle of the night with a song in my head. It felt like God was singing this song, this lullabye, over me as I slept. I quickly got up and wrote it down. It came all in one piece, in 5 minutes or so. I sang it over and over, imagining God singing it over me, imagining singing it over my family one day. A few months later, I was singing it one night when I suddenly envisioned singing it over my husband’s casket. I was 17, unmarried, Nate wasn’t even a twinkle in my eye. But I saw it so vividly, I remember crying about it that night. I didn’t sing it for awhile after that, and as time went on I forgot about that night. When Nate and I were engaged, Nate had food poisoning one time and got sick as a dog. He wanted me to sing to him. So, I remembered God’s lullabye for my family, and, seeing as I was engaged to him and wanted him to be my family so earnestly, I sang it over him while he was sick. Later, when I was pregnant, I sang it everyday to little Jack as he was inside of me, and, later still, when he was a little newborn baby. The night that they found Nate, they brought him back to me at his dad’s house. We sat in the back of a truck, and I held him like I had when he was sick and many other times, and I sang God’s lullabye for my family over him. As I sang, I remembered how I had envisioned one lonely night singing that song over my husband’s casket 7 years before. And I knew then, holding my stilled husband, that God had planned this for me from the beginning. But as I sang, I also heard the words I was singing, and it was as if God was singing over me right then. These are the words He sang over me:
In the beginning
Before there was time
I felt your heart beat
And I loved you then
And I love you still
I have and always will
And I don’t ever want to leave
I just want you here with me
Could you love me
Half as much as I love you?
I’d do anything for you
Just let me love you as I do
All I ask is that you mean it
When you say to me
That you love me.
And I don’t ever want to leave
I just want you here with me
Could you love me
Half as much as I love you?
I’d do anything for you
Just let me love you like I do
And no matter what life brings
I will always be.
And I’ll love you.
And I’ll love you.
I love you.
I love you.
I think I sang “I love you” a hundred times, over and over. Me singing it to my love, and God singing it over me.
I don’t think Nate thought he was ready to die yet, either. One week before his death, he had held a woman who had been in a bad carwreck as she lay dying. He came home upset and contemplative before me. I sat quietly at his feet while he sat on the bed with his hand laid on Jack’s head, and tears were streaming down his face.
“What are you thinking of, Nate?”
Quiet. Whispered, “You and Jack.”
I’m sure he didn’t want to leave us. But he also didn’t know what God truly had in store for him in Heaven, or for us here on earth.
All I know is, I couldn’t see it then, but his life has had a ripple effect. It started out small, just with his friends, but then it spread all around to people who never knew him, in places he had never been. Inspiration. A call to people to live life to the fullest. Don’t worry about insignificant things. Life it too short! Love your family and your friends. They are your legacy. Love, love in God’s name. He’s the one who justifies the unjust, comforts the grieving, lifts up the humble. He is the purpose of life. Nathan is a ripple effect. Thus comes the name of my blog here. Maybe, just maybe, Nate’s story, my story, Jack’s story, spreads life even farther. In its sadness. In its joy. In its pride. In its humility.
And so, for Nate, if anyone would like to tell a story about him, about the ripple effect his life has had, please leave a comment on it here. Doesn’t matter if you never knew him…maybe that’s better. Maybe you know me, maybe you don’t. Maybe you came across this blog by googling it or something. Maybe this post is a year old, and no one’s commented on it in ages. Doesn’t matter. I’d like for you to tell us. It’s all part of a ripple effect that you also carry on in your own life.
I love you, Nathan. You, in your life, made me a true woman. A woman who knew what it was to love someone more than herself. To know what it was to sacrifice. In your death, you made me realize how precious a gift is family, friendship, love. You made me realize not to hold on to things too dearly that will fade, but to push on, looking to what truly awaits me after my short breath of life has ended. Heaven. But my ripples will carry on down here. Thank you, darling, for the ripples that went through this heart.
Thank you, God.
THE RIPPLE EFFECT 
26 November, 2007 at 5:04 am
Nate, Kyle, and you are people who daily teach me to live life to the fullest. At the end of every sermon, Kyle gave a sort of benediction: “As we approach this week, may we love God, embrace beauty, and live life to the fullest.” I think Nate exemplified that thought with his life: He loved God, he embraced you, and he lived.
26 November, 2007 at 7:55 am
this is beautiful, one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. I don’t know you or Nate except through this blog and others’ blogs… but the ripple reached all the way out here to Germany and straight into my heart. i am challenged, humbled, and even ashamed at my own selfishness in my own relationships…. the good kind of shame. the kind that motivates you to repent and change and do what is RIGHT. to love, to live, to laugh, to serve, to give, and to give some more. thank you Lauren, for sharing yours and nate’s life with us through his death. thank you for sharing the pain and the memories. many of us here read the posts with tears streaming down our faces as we can’t even begin to fathom what you have walked through this last year… and yet we are strangely encouraged as well. strengthened by the strength and comfort you have been given. so thank you for this blog… please keep sharing. please keep spurring us on through your life and yes nate’s too. blessings to you this week… and may God’s grace and peace abound supernaturally in your heart.
26 November, 2007 at 9:32 am
I have always been a selfish person, but your words and your life and Nate’s life make me want to love more, live more and put others first more. I knew Nate’s Mother, and brothers and sister more than I knew him and I only met you after his death but you have made an impact on me. Thank you for sharing Lauren.
26 November, 2007 at 5:57 pm
The story God is writing for you in your life has touched me, and many. Nates life as well. I am 30, I have six kids, and a husband I love with all my heart and life… I have a tendency to want to hold on to them so much. . . my heart breaks to think of any one loving as I do, and loosing them… yet, I know God is good in all He does. Your trust in Him edifies me and encourages me — reminding me I am here on this earth for GOD … and to have a ripple effect as well.
Blessings to you and Jack. My you sense God’s arms always around you and him.
27 November, 2007 at 12:35 am
Lauren, I wish I could have known Nate. I wish that I could have had some time to see you two together. I often imagine that he was just as beautiful of a person as you are. We had given some money when they were taking donations, and I remember the heaviness on our heart for you. We didnt know you, but I felt for you. Then I remember the first time that I read your blog, tears streaming down my face. I seen how you were going through something very profound, that no one around you could really empathize with. That day I didnt want to fight with Jayme. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and cherish him to the fullest, because I saw before me the lonely truth of mortality.All of the things that we hear and read about, but dont usually have to face. We really do think that we are invincible, though we know different. A couple of years was all that you two had, but from how you speak of him, sounds like a lifetime that God gave the two of you to really live and share with each other. Somehow God always brings you two to my mind, when he wants to remind me of how selfish I am acting in my own marriage, or any relationship for that matter. Your life has been a tremendous inspiration to me, and an encouragement to not hold back, but to give myself fully to each moment, to chase after The Lord with fervency and passion, and to never consider any circumstance ordinary. Simply put, you are a hero to me, and I am thankful to God for you and your story.
27 November, 2007 at 2:42 am
Hmm. Nate’s ripple in my life is you. Your experiences, your life, influences mine so greatly. I learn a lot about contentment, simple living, and loving people and life from you. And I’m sure he had a huge part in all that for you. You really may not know just how much I learn from you about God, and life, but it’s a lot. And I love you! So thanks Nate, and God, for helping make you who you are, because God uses you for good in my life, and I like that! I love you.
27 November, 2007 at 6:32 am
hi love. i cant even put into words how much my life has changed since this time last year, and i can only imagine how much greater that change would be should i had known nate on a personal level. hearing about his life has given me a greater perspective on how to live my own life and has inspired me to live for the moment and enjoy every second. he did incredible things in his short life and it has encouraged me and motivated me to get the ball rolling in and to live to the fullest, to glorify god in all that i do, before my time is up. i know ive told you this before, but the first six months after nate died, i was so angry at god. funny how i could be angry at god for taking away someone i barely knew… but i was. i was mad at him for taking nate away from you and jack and i feared him because i knew he could do the same to me. but god revealed so much of himself to me in that time. through you, god showed me his provision, his wisdom, his sovereignty, his love. god showed me that life and love and relationships are a gift. he taught me that he gives and he takes away and that he is good regardless. i think most importantly, nates death taught me to chase after god. someone said on his facebook that because of him, death is more appealing and i couldnt agree more. god has revealed himself to me through nates death and i have grown to desire him more, to desire heaven more…. and now, the more i learn about heaven, the more real it becomes, and the more i long to be there. because of nates story, and through knowing you, my eyes have been opened and my faith has been strengthened and like jen said, i am thankful for the story god has written through you, nate, and your marriage. i miss you and love you. lets hang out soon.
28 November, 2007 at 12:17 am
Oh Lauren! I barely know you, but I knew Nathan and met you for a moment on your beautiful wedding day. When the old youth group got together after he died, everyone was at my house. I never even spoke to you, and I am so embarassed by that. But, I had absolutely no idea what to say. Sometimes I still think I don’t. But, I did want to tell you a story about Nathan and to tell you what a ripple you have made in my life.
My senior year of high school, my husband (obviously not my husband at the time…that would be weird…hehe) was a freshman at Baylor. We had the same spring break, but didn’t get to spend it together. I went skiing, and Nathan happened to be in the same town with another friend from school. One night, the 3 of us met up and sat in a hot tub for a while and hung out. Totally not a big deal, but my husband was so upset about it when I got back because he said I didn’t know what could have happened. (We obviously didn’t know the other guy Nathan was with too well.) But, I remember thinking….why would I be scared? Nathan was with me. David and I were both in the youth group with Nathan, and we were all such good friends. I knew that since Nathan was there, he never would have let anything happen to me. :) I know it’s silly, but that is something I will always remember about him. He was also a total goober in high school and always in trouble. But, we all loved him for it. :)
I’m SO not good at writing stuff like this, but I just want to tell you that though not NEARLY or intimately profound as yours, my life changed a year ago today. I guess I thought we were all invincible deep down…Nathan especially. Nathan’s death made me look at my relationship with God and others and really evaluate. The things of this world are so less important to me now, and the people in it are treasures. Like Adriana said so perfectly, I hold onto David tighter and looser at the same time now. We think of you and Jack so often. Please know that you are and always will be in our prayers. I am so encouraged by your blog, and I really admire you. We love you and will be praying for you this week. Thank you!
28 November, 2007 at 4:58 am
I think that what affected me more than anything about Nathan’s life was the amazingly peaceful smile that was always on his face. It is what I think of when I think of him. It’s a peace that I search for on a daily basis.
You have affected me too, my dear Lauren, as so many other people have said here already. Your faith and your honesty and the way you are willing to make yourself vulnerable here in this forum is inspiring, to say the least. I love your music. I know Nate loved it too. Thank you for sharing it. And thank you for inviting us to remember with you.
28 November, 2007 at 6:19 am
Lauren, thank you for writing about your heart on your blog. Here’s a Nate story for you: When Nate and Tim were fighting fires, Dad, Charlotte, and I went to camp with them. A fellow firefighter was camping with Tim and Nate also. (He somehow ended up being related to us too!) Well I was talking to Nate and I was unsure of how to refer to the other gut because I didn’t remember his name so I said something like “that man over there.” Later, I was talking to Nate again and I called him and Tim “boys.” (My mistake, I know…) Nate immediately responded by saying, “How come HE is called a man and WE are called boys?!!!”
I laughed and didn’t know how to respond. I had dug myself into a hole. OOPS!
28 November, 2007 at 4:32 pm
this is beauty.
28 November, 2007 at 7:46 pm
I just wanted to say that for a while I have been struggling with the idea of death. why it has to happen and so on. the biggest fear in it all is leaving behind my wife. what would happen? I immediately forget God exists, or at least cares, when I think those thoughts.
I can’t explain it at the moment, but I just want to tell you that I have most of all connected with nate in you telling your story. God has really helped me out with fear and death and all that goes with it. I thank God for nate and you, and how He has used both of you this past year to work on me.
how do we live present mortal life in the face of promised eternity? I am pretty sure the answer is somewhere in your writing- thank you.
28 November, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Lauren, I don’t know you, or Nathan, or Jack, or really anyone that knows you, but I found this blog through a friend of a friend, and truth be told, I’m addicted. I hope this doesn’t creep you out. The ripple effect? Seeing how much you love Nathan, how much you cherish everyday with Jack, and how you seem so peaceful and graceful through one of the toughest years I can imagine- it makes me so incredibly thankful for the blessings in my life. I’ve been married a little over a year and am expecting my first baby. The marriage and the pregnancy haven’t been easy. Far from it, in fact. But, having a reminder that they could be gone at any time makes me thankful. And really, a thankful heart is all a person needs to get through a rough time, I think. The song on this blog made me weep, and I made up a tune for it and sang it to my husband and baby. Hmm, good thing they give me a lot of grace! God bless you, and thank you, for being a blessing to me.
28 November, 2007 at 10:40 pm
I have only a few memories of Nathan, but they all stand out in my mind so distinctly, for very different reasons.
My first memory is at your wedding. I immediately fell in love with him for you while I was up in your room helping you get ready. You looked so incredibly peaceful, and that was such a direct reflection of the impact that he was making on your heart. Then, there was the way he looked at you during the ceremony. He loved you. He was brilliantly glowing for you.
My second memory of Nathan is when Davie and I stayed with you at your mom’s on our way to south Texas for our honeymoon. Nate cooked chicken cacciatore and served red wine. We laughed and talked at the dinner table about the crazy things that newlyweds go through. ~A side note to this story is that we slept in Patrick’s old room, and the headboard was not attached to the bed. So, every time we even barely moved the dang headboard would bang against the wall. This made us laugh so hard because we were so embarrassed that you would think we were…doing what honeymooners do. The movement from the laughing brought forth more headboard banging, and the cycle continued well into the night.~ The next morning you were making scones (for the first time, if I remember correctly), and you two had gotten up before we had. You and Nate were in the kitchen and I came down the stairs that lead into the entry way to get something out of my bag. You were both fully unaware that I was just around the corner and I heard a noise that sounded something like this “phhhhrrrrbrbrrr” and then I hear you say “Gross!!” and then I hear Nate chuckle the way that guys do when they know that they have succeeded in grossing us out with their bodily functions “hehehe.” It was oh, so funny.
My third memory of him is another weekend when just my mom and I came down and you (about to pop with little Jack), Nate, your mom, my mom and I had a long and hearty spiritual talk and debate well into the night. Nate was so full of a humble awareness of what God wants of his people. My spiritual eyes were opened a little more that night.
My few memories of him are very different, but they all seem to show him for what he was: loving, devoted, a caregiver, an entertainer, funny and above all else, a man of God.
Lauren, I cannot tell you what you and Nate do in my life. You are a constant in my thoughts, and I thank God that He brought that little buck-toothed girl hiding behind her mommy’s legs into my life, and that He brought that wonderful man into yours so that you both could bless people across the world for generations to come.
29 November, 2007 at 12:41 am
Hi Lauren, I don’t know you but I found your blog through searching other blogs. I just wanted to tell you that reading your honesty in your words has touched me. So maybe the ripple effect your husband had that came indirectly to me is how blessed I am to read how God is working in your life, so honestly, so real. I’ve been married for almost a year and a half, it’s all so fresh and new to me. Reading you and Nate’s story on here has given me a different perspective on my relationship with my husband and with God . . . and my outlook on life. Anyways, I thank God for the voice he has given you . . . and thank you for using it on here, even just with people reading your words on a screen. God bless.
29 November, 2007 at 3:11 pm
thank you.
29 November, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Some pictures:
The warmth of the Lambert home. The couches & pillows & big long meals that seem to accompany friendships and family in that house. A tacky pink dress sits on a pedastool – a reminder of a funny prank. A tiny winy dog that can easily be mistaken for a large bug greets people at the door, before being scooped up in the arms of whatever family member opens the front door. Profiles of a daughter & twin boys hang on the walls. Lots of board games, bible studies, conversations, sweet tasting treats & my first cup of hot tea – all in one big home.
Years later, I watched you step into a circle of ivy with a man (who Katy and I remember you describing as ‘pure hotness’ before you were dating). You’re cloaked in a prayer shawl – together. Your friends & family members stand up to say words, inevitably breaking down into tears. When it comes my turn, I have to hang onto Katy to stand up straight – I’m so overwhelmed with love & I can hear my voice crack as I struggle to find my blessing for you.
Various trips to Denton leave me with assorted visions / conversations with you and Nathan. Nate’s decided to grow wheatgrass — he’s quoting random bits of nutritional information (constantly). He’s working on his french. You’re playing the guitar. You’re both proclaiming the benefits of second-hand clothing. You both sneak out of your little 2 story apartment at 5 in the morning to bus children to school -trying to stay quiet & not wake those of us couch-sleeping-visitors up. There are big, beautiful yellow curtains that sweep across the nook of your living room, & multi-colored lamps that give your little apartment the same ambiance as the Lambert home – I will always be jealous of the curtain fabric & the fact it would inappropriate for me to copy your living room design exactly. (Ironically, this fabric gets used in Jack’s first Halloween costume). Nate falls asleep on the chair in the living room during a movie – you giggle at his drowsiness as you kiss his head & coax him to move his snoring to the bedroom.
You call me excited to tell me you’re pregnant & I can’t blink for 2 solid minutes. I’m at Friday’s talking existentialism with Paul (over mid-day margaritas no less). You’re excited & I’m terrified, but excited. I’m so thrilled when you start your baby blog and I can watch the pictures of your belly grow, & hear your stories of Nate & your pregnancy. Before I know it you’ve got a balloon in your belly, & suddenly there’s photos of a little man – a passport at such a young age. :o)
I’m coming to visit you, as soon as my family Thanksgiving is over. I’m waiting for you both to return from Oregon to see you before I move halfway across the world. There’s a stone cold phone call, followed by many others. A sense of panic – not knowing if I should somehow delay the move.
I go into the Lambert house in a somber hour. I climb into a big bed – blankets & pillows and tea & warmth; what I know this place to be. I feel silly being the one crying as you’re sitting next to me, listening. But you’re so peaceful. And open and honest. You’re not holding up any pretences or walls, you’re lying in a bed with me, & your sleeping baby boy, living one minute at a time.
I’ll never in my whole life forget your calm. I know you weren’t always calm, but in that moment you were. You were wise. I was struck by the tragedy of it all and kept asking things like, “Aren’t you mad at him?”, or “It’s just not fair”. But with every irrational thought I voiced, you countered with a sense of greater purpose, or larger design. I’ve never felt more proud of you. Or more accurately, proud to know you. When Jack woke up after our long conversation, you smiled over him. You said you knew when he was about to cry & could usually change his mind by making faces at him. As I stared at him, I remember feeling profoundly in Nate’s presence. Here he was, in front of us! Nate’s face & eyes. I could almost hear his diatribes of healthy living in the background…
A year later & here is my ripple: Holding Paul a closer, always touching. Perhaps fretting too much over all the what-ifs, struggling to realize there is no way to escape them. Being more in the moment of things – making memories worth hanging onto. Growing up a bit. Realizing we’re not just 10, or 14, or college kids anymore – even though ‘adulthood’ doesn’t seem to describe it accurately either. Considering my actions on the large scale -which is something I think Nate was great at. My purchases, my ethos, my lifestyle – they all reflect and reinforce who I am. To live an ethical or spiritual life and not consider these things is pointless. Nate refused to be a mere Christian in words. He aimed to be someone contributing to local & global issues in ways that supported his beliefs. So this year, we’ve forced ourselves to make some difficult or perhaps less convenient choices with the goal of living more sustainably or respectably: paying attention to our choices, and struggling to help our bodies, our neighbours, & our world (co-currently). And, this year, watching you be a mom (from afar) & being far from all my close family – I’ve found myself appreciating things much more. Appreciating family. Friends. New & old. All the opportunities we were privy to just by being born in the right place, time, & to the right families. The more people I meet in this world, the more I realize the incredible blessings we take for granted: financial security, the right to health, love, & caring discipline, education, & enormous encouragement to be ‘whatever we want to be’. We lead privileged lives, & in part because of Nathan, I’ve learned about the enormous responsibilities those privileges leave us onus to.
Loving you, & Nate, for this year, & the past & future. XOXOXO. Little Jackabee – a living memory for us all to watch anxiously as he grows up.
30 November, 2007 at 2:06 am
Lauren, your words always bring me to tears that seem to pour down my face like a faucet…probably because my biggest fear is losing my husband. I think your honesty and raw openness about everything is helping me realize that God is truly bigger than my biggest fear, and he can still be good if my fears become reality. Thank you so much for the way you share your life. Thank you for loving Jesus so much. You are a beautiful woman of strength.
30 November, 2007 at 2:51 am
Lauren-
I have been thinking about you all week. Thank you for always being so open and honest on this blog. Your heart for God is an inspiration to me. I wish that I could say that I knew Nate, but I didn’t. I do remember meeting him once at church and I remember thinking, “they look so happy and in love.” I remember wishing that I could have come to your wedding, but I was leaving for school the same weekend. I’m sorry that I missed that beautiful moment.
This weekend, our preacher’s sermon immediately made me think of you. You and little Jack were on my mind the whole time as he talked about “Getting to Christmas through Thanksgiving.” He focused on 1 Thes 5:18- the fact that it says “be thankful in all circumstances”, not “for all circumstances.” I won’t get into all the details except to say that it’s worth listening to… http://www.thebranch.org.
The words that you pour out on this blog encourage me daily to love and live to the fullest. Thank you for your love for HIM and thank you for teaching me.
30 November, 2007 at 6:38 am
you have captured the essence and meaning of life in one year of grief, that most people never obtain in a lifetime…thank you for sharing your story. i am forever changed.
2 December, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I was drawn back to the Coffee Ambassador’s site today – doing a bit of research – and I felt a compelling urgency to click on ‘Nate’s Page’ for the second time. I clicked through to The Ripple Effect and I was, once again, part of an experience for which I will never have the proper words. The webs that tie us each to the other are so mysterious. Only god truly knows why, how, and when we will be called. Your experience and your honesty have changed me. You, Nate, and Jack are the butterfly flaps to my storm. Thank you.
2 December, 2007 at 11:20 pm
your story is a testimony of a lifetime. I love that God never gives us anything we can’t handle, he knows you can handle this and is so proud of how your sharing your story to help others! I am blessed by your blog, as I have ran across it, may God forever bless you and your baby boy.
3 December, 2007 at 7:52 pm
One day I had Timmy and Nathan at my house before we knew you, Lauren. I think the occasion was Charlotte’s high school graduation but I’m not sure. Anyway, after I had cleaned off the dining room table the two brothers sat on those two green chairs in the corner and started talking in low voices to each other. Occasionally I had to walk through the dining room to get to the kitchen and they were still there in the dark talking. Around midnight, long after I was asleep I was wakened by a noise. I went downstairs quietly to investigate and there, still in the deeply dark dining room, were Timmy and Nathan, on their knees in front of the green chairs, praying. As I write this my heart flies to my Lord like it did that night.
4 December, 2007 at 3:56 pm
That was a really powerful post. My husband and I visited your small group when we were engaged and I remember you. That was the day you were reading Power of a Praying Wife and about sex. Well, I then heard about Nate and I remembered you again. By then I was married and was shocked. I knew you were strong because the Lord made you strong and that was amazing. I have been having a hard time right now spiritually, living in fear about my life,death, etc. Your post really helped me to grasp it. The one above it also says that when we are weak he is strong. That is the second time I have heard that today. It must be God telling me something. Thank you!
6 December, 2007 at 12:21 am
[…] how much I miss it. When my blog-addicted friend (yes, you ARE addicted ;)) referred me to a blog she frequents and I decided to go ahead and read it, I found inspiration rather than the boredom I […]
7 January, 2008 at 3:24 am
Lauren,
thanks so much for your posts and your blog. after i was directed here by joshua harris’ blog (which i only visited as a lark in the first place), i read the post about your christmas memories and laughed. then i looked closer and i saw your posts about jack and about nate. and i wept as i read more and more about your beautiful short relationship with nate and about the death of your little yorkie Korky…
i do believe God wanted me to read those things. my wife and i are so full of fear and uncertainty and depression and anxiety about life and death and children and God and family and service and sacrifice and health right now. it just provided me with such an appreciation for what we do have and it also filled me with conviction to share with you that you are being used in a profound way; your words and photos and lyrics and story are no longer your own now. thank you for sharing. and thanks for inspiring me to give out of what i have and not wait for what i would like to have.
–Sean in northwest Portland.
7 January, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Lauren,
Wow. Your honesty and transparency have truly inspired me. I vaguely know where you’ve been as one of my best friends (she’s 24) lost both of her parents to cancer within a year of each other, and another friend of mine from high school that lost her husband tragically in a traffic accident (he was a state trooper and was hit while performing a routine stop) not long after their daughter was born. My soul hurts for you, and we’ve never met, but I believe that is how the Body of Christ works.
Your writings are evidence of your deep relationship with Christ, and it is for that reason that the ripple will continue to grow and touch people.
I would like to share your story with a few of my friends, so I’m going to take the liberty and link to your blog from mine, as I get the feeling you wouldn’t mind… (if you do, shoot me an email and I’ll take it down: wes at wakefi dot org) (blog: www dot wakefi dot org)
May God richly bless you and your son, and may you continue to grow in the grace and love of our Savior!
Wes Wakefield
7 January, 2008 at 8:36 pm
[…] ran across this post and the follow-up post and was deeply moved by her story. Here is a young woman (mid 20’s, […]
19 January, 2008 at 2:12 am
Knowing Nathan made us brave. And knowing you makes us thankful.
You give us so much just by being you. Thank you.
love you
love you
love you
we thank God for you.
20 January, 2008 at 11:11 am
I just wanted to say thank you for having the guts to speak you heart. I’ve never met you, but I know for myself it can be hard to say things strait. The Ripple Effect is definitely continuing.
20 January, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing about the pain and about your journey through it. Nate thank you for the leader you were to you’re family, I never knew you but I know you lead them well, I can feel it in your wife’s words. She knew your love and she knows God’s love and that is evidence of the fruit of your love and service to her. Lauren continue to expose your heart to God and allow Him to search it. Thank you and praise God for the work He is doing!
18 February, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Where do I start? Yes, the ripples continue. It’s so amazing how Jesus flows through His people one after another after another. I’ve only just started reading your blog entries recently and I am addicted already. Your stories have made me laugh and cry and rejoice. I wish that so many could know the joy in their marriages that you and Nate condensed into your short time together. What a God thing that is. The wisdom that he has poured into one so young amazes me. If only I could have had that kind of relationship with Him when I was young. My son is not much younger than you and was married last month. I pray that he and his lovely wife will live a long and joyous life together like his mother and I and my mother and father before us. God blessed them with 63 years of joy together before He took both to His side last year. Only He can do that. Only He can restore us when lives end much to quickly. Thank you so much for pouring out your heart and sharing your life with us. The joy He places in you continues to cause ripples. I may never meet you in this life but look forward to the endless song I will sing with you and Nate and so many others.
26 March, 2008 at 11:17 pm
I lost my husband in a drowning accident on the weekend. We’d only been married 10 weeks. A friend of yours told me about your blog (an Erin maybe??) when she found mine. You asked people to comment, so I’m commenting. I came here because you’ve been through something like I am now and I was told your blog offers a perspective of hope. Your comment about Nathan having a huge impact on many people is something that I am starting to see filter back from my husband’s life. So the ripple effect is something for me to mull on. The more I hear, the more proud I am to have been married to him. I loved him deeply and miss him desperately. I’m terrified of all the alone tomorrows.
17 May, 2008 at 7:59 am
i’m back here reading more and as of tonight you are in my google reader. thank you for your comment and offer i contact. i have it flagged. i think i would like that sometime.
15 January, 2009 at 10:17 pm
I recently discovered your blog. It has been like a balm to my fears. A reminder of the grace of God. To live life to the fullest with the time we are given. I am in a relationship that is probably heading toward marriage. A marriage that has the potential for a relatively early goodbye because of health issues. Whether it’s five years or fifty…whatever time we are given, it’s worth it!