Christi slipped peacefully into heaven this morning at 4:15 am surrounded by Rick, Julia, and Lisle. We will update this later as to the time and place of her memorial service which will most likely be on Saturday.
Thank you for your continuous prayers for her and for all of us.
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Our prayers are with each of you as you grieve. We know that your memories are GREAT and what a blessing she was to each of you and those she came into contact with during her life. What a legacy she leaves. We love you. Al & Kathi Bachor, Athens, TX
ReplyDeleteBeing allowed to witness the miracle of your love for one another, and for Christi, is a blessing in my life.
ReplyDeleteYou have issued a challenge to the many readers of this blog, friends and strangers both: live fully, love deeply, hold nothing back. For this, and for Christi's life, I am deeply grateful.
Our prayers are with you all.
G-d's peace,
Karen
Christi will always be my best friend.
ReplyDeleteChristi and I met at church. I was drawn to Christi’s smile. She was always happy and always smiling. Julia with her curly hair and smile just like her mom and lisle with her long legs and curly hair made a beautiful family. It wasn’t long before lisle and my daughter Krystal became best friends.
Christi and I began to work with the pre-teen girls at our church, with our daughters and their friends. A little group of about 6 girls turned into a group of about 20¬-25 girls because there was a need. Christi was a Christian example to girls when they were the most impressionable. She loved to sing. She loved working with kids and youth. She was always involved in VBS. She always knew what needed to be done and just did it and did it with a passion, love and grace of a wonderful Christian.
Christi was there for me when our family experienced growth challenges, as she called it. She would tell me, “If you don’t go through challenges you don’t grow”.
With the different paths our lives took with our kids involved in different interests, we were still close.
Christi and I would meet for lunch every Wednesday at Johnny carino’s. We took turns paying for each other’s meal and she always knew whose turn it was to pay. For her birthday, we splurged and would share a dessert.
I even enjoyed visits at the lake house with mom mom and dan dan where I was welcomed as part of the family and treated like a queen in a castle. Some visits were just me and Christi and the girls and sometimes it was with Roger and Rick.
Christi was always my ‘go-to’ friend. If I ever needed anything, it was Christi whom I would call on. Rather it was 3:00 PM or 3:00 AM, she would drop everything she was doing and come to my aid. Once at my office at 5:30 where she prayed with me until I felt peace and held me til I stopped crying.
When Christi called me to tell she was sick, I told her it was my turn to be her go-to and we would beat this disease together.
I watched as Rick and Christi’s faith, hope and love for God’s mercy and blessings grew more and more every day. I promised Rick and Christi to start a prayer circle in which I called on my friends and family to agree to pray with me every morning at 7AM, no matter where they were. Every day I prayed for God’s will be done for Christi and her family. I know that God needed her in heaven more than we needed her on this earth. Heaven is a much sweeter and happier place with Christi there.
I will miss her but never stop loving her and thinking about her. She leaves a legacy of her work in the lives of so many people that she touched with her genuine love and concern. She leaves a mark on the lives of lisle and krystal and all their friends with the group that she mentored and cared for.
She leaves behind work that still needs to be done. It is now time to harvest the seed that she planted in each of us. The last 9 months will be for nothing if we don’t pick up where she left off and continue to love and mentor each other. Christi’s pre-teen girls from longbranch, it is not too late for you to get the group back together and make a pact to be the best you can be and make her proud in the decisions you make in living for Christ and being involved in your church by remembering the things she taught you and make Christi proud by taking your Christian walk with Christ to the next level and going above and beyond any commitment you have ever had before.
No one else can feel exactly what Rick, Julia, and Lisle are feeling right now, but I ache and grieve for them. I am also hurting for all of the rest of Christi's family and friends who love Christi so much. Death is so hard to understand and feels like such a final defeat. Thankfully we have God's word to dispel that deception. I wanted to share two of my favorite passages with you as we grieve together today and in the days to come:
ReplyDeleteRevelation 21:3-7 (New King James Version)
3.And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
4.And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
5.Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."
6.And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
7.He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
1 Corinthians 15:51-58 (The Message)
51.But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I'll probably never fully understand. We're not all going to die - but we are all going to be changed.
52.You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes - it's over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we'll all be changed.
53.In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal.
54.Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
55.Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?
56.It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power.
57.But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three - sin, guilt, death - are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!
58.With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.
May God richly bless and comfort you today.
Love,
Steve
Our love, thoughts and prayers are with you all. What a blessing for Christi to pass peacefully away while she was surrounded by those she loved. I'm sure there is quite a celebration in heaven at her sweet arrival. May God bless all of Christ's family with wonderful memories of her life. With love, Brynda Bryant Presnall, Evelyn Bryant & Janice Bryant Cooper
ReplyDeleteDear Ricky, Lisle, and Julia,
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about Christi. My prayers and thoughts are with you. Do not hesitate to call if there is anything I can do.
Love,
Cousin Julie Liberatori Langmann
The words were hard to come by in our prayer time this morning at Bible Study, but God knows our hearts and feelings for your loss. May He surround you with His Love and Comfort. Love to all, Gerry and the Pinnacle Bible Study
ReplyDelete"Weep not, weep not...she is not dead, she is resting in the bosom of Jesus." James Weldon Johnson
ReplyDeleteCT
Working with Rick in Switzerland I learned how much he loved his wife and family. My heart is broken for their loss today. If called upon, may friends and family boldly rise to their sides to help them continue down the path of life.
ReplyDeletePeace be with you and your family. You are in our thoughts and prayers daily.
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