A “party for Eisley”!

I was looking through my photos to find a “picture that says a thousand words” and this fit perfectly. ( I took this on one of our Thailand outreaches)

Saying this past week has been hard is putting it lightly. I’ve avoided getting things all in order and ready for the memorial service for Eisley. I know it needs to get done, but it feels so hard to plan this memorial because I feel like it’s another step to letting her go and saying goodbye. I feel like we are becomming more and more aware, that this is our reality; She is gone. I really, really hate those three words.

When a friend saw that I am having a hard time planning this memorial service and that I’ve even been avoiding it, she wrote me with a challenge she felt God gave her to give me. She wrote about how this “wasn’t the Jami she knew”, the one enjoyed planning events and especially those for the ones I love and my kids. I realized how right she was. I put so much effort and work into the ‘Pink or Blue’ party for Eisley and had a blast planning it. And I want to put as much effort into our daughter’s memorial, the celebration of her life. When I initially sent out the invites to the memorial, even then I wrote “a celebration of her life” and I meant that with everything in me. Over time, I guess I let that vision sink away while the sorrow has settled inside of me.

My friend wrote about making it more of a “party for Eisley” and I love that idea. That is what we want.

I told Ted last night about the challenge to look at this as her party even though she cannot attend physically. We both got teary because it is hard that we’re planning this kind of party without her here with us, but we really want to honour and celebrate our little Eisley’s life.

So, let’s celebrate sweet Eisley! I hope you can attend the party for Eisley this Saturday and if you can’t attend in person, stand with us in prayer and in your thoughts that day. And if you want to, we will be releasing pink balloons during the service and I want to ask that you TOO will release a pink balloon whereever you are and snap a photo of it and send it to my email address; . I will put it in her scrapbook!

Eisley will be watching us celebrate her life as she rests between His shoulders. I do believe that, with all of my heart. :)

(I took this photo when I was first pregnant with Eisley. These photos of our spring walk that day will forevermore cause me to think of her when I see them.)

Eisley-girl, we’re going to throw you the best party ever, in honour of your life and your legacy. You are loved, so very loved.