Mari's Song

I wrote this the other day while sitting on our flight from Chicago to Honolulu. I wrote this song to the melody of this song:

I love you Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship you
Oh my soul rejoice
Take joy my King
In what You hear
May it be a sweet, sweet voice
In Your ear

This is my song to Mari called "Mari's Song":

I love you Mari
And I sing to you
I miss you now
And forever more
Take joy my daughter
In all that you do
May our love show you
That you are our everything

To love you Mari
Is to sing your praise
We all miss you now
And always
Take joy our angel
In all that you are
May your love show us
What love really is

We love you Mari
And we sing to you
To have you gone
Hurts today and always
The joy you bring
To our hearts and souls
May it love forever on
In the depths of our souls

A Poem to Mari

When I lie awake at night
All I do is think of you as my guiding light
You helped me to see
That my life became complete because of thee

To have known you
Is to have loved you
And to have loved you
Is to miss you

I can envision you looking down on me and daddy
And wanting to make sure that we are and will continue to be happy

I know you miss us as much as we miss you
And baby girl you will always be apart of our life no matter what we do

You are up there singing your songs
Probably laughing and dancing and at the top of your lungs

Your arms are like wings as you try to take flight
Because you are so excited by the beautiful awe inspiring sight

Please always remember there isn’t a day to go by without you in our thoughts and prayers
That it helps us to keep you close to us as we all go through our own grief layers

The memories are so dear
That we don’t live in fear
As our memories instead fill us with joy
As we think of you playing with a favorite toy

Daddy misses you
Mommy misses you
Everyone miss you too
Please think of us
Please watch over us
Please remember to do what you love to do

Praise You In This Storm

Casting Crowns is one of my favorite groups if not my favorite. What I like about this group is their words. They are not afraid to tell it like it is.

When my daughter passed away this past summer I had someone from our church sing this song. It was how we closed out her funeral service. This song says so much as to how Keith and I are feeling right now and will probably feel for some time to come. I hope these words mean as much to you as they have for us. I have also include a video I found that is below the lyrics.

I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say “Amen”, and it’s still raining

But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the windYou heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can’t find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth
I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm


Praise You In This Storm - Casting Crowns - Awesome video clips here

A Dedication to My Other Half

This is dedicated to the man I love with all of my heart.

I write this for the one man in my life that has shown me what love is supposed to look like. We have our good days and we definitely have our bad ones as well. We have times of happiness and times of trial. But mostly we just have each other.

The love we have for each other runs so deep, so strong it is hard to describe.

To trust him is like nothing else one could experience. I trust him fully. I know he will always be there for me. I know he will always take care of me. I know he will be exactly what I need him to be.

They say nothing in life is every perfect. I can say that is true to an extent. Where that statement is wrong is the two of us. I am not perfect and Keith is not perfect but the two of us are perfect for each other. I am so grateful that over 15 years ago he came into my life and now we have been married for almost 15 years.

To love someone this much just does not seem possible. How can one person love another as much as I love him and that I know he loves me. All I know is that we could not be getting through this difficult time without each other. God put us in each other’s lives those many years ago so that one day when we were to lose our daughter we could be there for each other. We both miss her so much.

I am so grateful for the love I have for this man. He is my other half. He is the one that helps me to be a better person. He is my everything.

I love you sweetheart forever and always.

A Dedication to Mariana

This video is a dedication to our daughter Mariana. It was created by a friend and it was played at her wake and before her funeral started. I wanted to share it with everyone because of how much it meant to Keith and I and our family. Please let us know what you think.