love, Terra

Spoken by Terra, our dear friend and co- worker in Zambia, at Christianna's memorial service in Zambia:

"Christianna Joy: A name she really lived into.  As I think about Christianna's Joy and how it was firmly rooted in Christ, I can't help but to long for her vibrancy to live on.  She was a positive thinker and carefree yet in a responsible, logical way.  She understood freedom.  She understood people and how to be a good friend.  She knew that art was worship to God and appreciated all forms of it.  In fact, she herself was an up-tempo symphony that hummed a dancing rhythm in the air and it was contagious.  A rhythm you wanted more of.  Yes, even still we long for more, yet we have to learn from what this beautiful, loving 10 year old taught us.  We must be positive thinkers that worship our God and father no matter what we face.

We have eternity to dance to the heavenly songs with Christianna but we have only one life to create our own song that is vibrant enough to affect others.

We should all choose to live life as big as Christianna and be so filled with God's love that we leave encouragement with those we meet even when not trying.  We should be enjoying the freedom of God's love and the simple joys he gives us everyday, whether it is giving a compliment and watching someone's face light up or seeing flowers dancing in the wind.  I want to soak myself in that mindset.  I thank and praise God for teaching me such a great lesson through Christianna.