2016: Page 192 (Breanna’s Song)

Page 192 began early as I headed to the church building to clean bathrooms and do building prep before church services as I didn’t make it there last night. After a great worship gathering with my Deer Run family, I received a phone call which is the reason today’s written page will be somewhat different than my previous pages in this page-and-photo-a-day journey I’ve been on this year. I am told that my phone, which was on silent mode, lit up with an incoming call while I was leading the closing prayer time at church. When I got to lunch after church, I noticed I had a missed call and voicemail from my brother. The message was simply to call him as soon as possible. There was an urgency in his voice that had me concerned so I called him before sitting down to eat. My mind was running through a variety of scenarios — none of which were good — as he asked if I was sitting down and not driving, but nothing could have prepared me or made me anticipate the news he would share. His youngest daughter, Breanna, had died in an auto accident this morning in Alabama where she was doing a summer internship before her senior year at Purdue.

My thoughts and prayers all day have been with my brother, his wife, their two remaining adult children, and all of the many family and friends who would be trying to process such heart-breaking news throughout the day. As I prayed, God began to form a poem in my mind that would honor the memory of my niece and her love for life and for God. The following are the words that God gave me to share.

Breanna’s Song

Sometimes the sorrow

is hard to see past.

When the news hits you hard

that today was her last.

The good parts of life

are painful to see.

When all of a sudden

they’re just a memory.

But a life that’s not lived

is no life at all.

And she lived it full

and always walked tall.

No words are enough,

they surely will fail.

To erase all the sorrow

of this chapter’s tale.

She lived with such joy,

she wanted it all.

Whether just living life

or playing some ball.

Her faith was alive

for all who would see.

She was loved by her friends

and her whole family.

What would she say

if she could still talk?

I think you can tell

by the way she did walk.

Her life filled with joy

was more than just fun.

She lived it daily,

in step with God’s Son.

And so in the sorrow

of days yet ahead.

There’s hope in the darkness

of nights filled with dread.

The weeping and sorrow

will last for a night.

But someday we’ll gather

in the heavenly light.

So what can we do

as we mourn and grieve?

But to make sure we’re ready

for when it’s our time to leave.

And when we all get there,

I think we will see.

The beauty of heaven

as we gather with Bre.

I had a message on my phone when I left church this morning to call my brother as soon as I could. When I returned his call, he gave me the news that their youngest daughter, Breanna, had died in a car accident this morning. As I was praying for Tim, Melinda, Bethany, Blake and the rest of our family and Breanna’s friends, God put this poem in my mind as I thought about her life. I pray that God brings comfort to others through these words and that we would all be ready for our day to be reunited with Bre.

In prayer,

Tom