16 years ago my dream of becoming a mom came true. We had an adventure getting you here, for sure, but the peace that I had throughout my pregnancy came straight from Jesus. I think even then, He was writing your story. You changed us. Most parents will agree…we quickly learned what real fear was the day that you were given to us. If I could have wrapped you in bubble wrap to protect you, I would have. As you grew…every wound, every virus, or stomach bug, was always worrisome. I hated to see you sick. I tried not to over-react, but it’s always so raw seeing your child suffer from poor health. I had no idea just how much I would someday watch you endure. I used to say you were my anxious child. It was hard for you to relax and you let fear and worry sometimes take hold when you were little. Wow…Jesus really transformed that part of you. Somewhere along the way, you learned how to capture those anxious thoughts and replace with with God’s truths. You became courageous. You started growing strong roots into The Word of God and you learned that there’s no better place to be than in a place of worship-in His presence. Your free spirit and joy were contagious and as you grew, your confidence grew in who you were and how God made you. Satan was stupid to pick you to mess with. From the very first day that you heard the word cancer, you chose to let God use your story to draw others near to Him. I’m so proud of you.
On your birthday we wanted to give you and our community something that would make you proud of us. So, today we formally announce a new memorial fund that will be called the G.L.O.W. Like Sarah Fund. We have chosen 4 ministry initiatives that we feel represent you and your life well: Growth, Love, Optimism and Worship. Within these 4 areas we are hoping to honor you and bless other teenagers during this season of their lives. This will be a ministry built from your life story. We’re excited to help other teens find their gifts and discover their purpose in Christ. We have some big dreams about how we can help. Through this fund, we want to bless teens with things like Bible Journaling supplies, music instruments and lessons, photography and video equipment, scholarships for mission trips, camps, retreats and conferences, etc… We know that your friends mattered and more than anything, you wanted them to know Jesus and all the benefits that come from walking through life with Him.
We challenged everyone at your Celebration of Life with glowsticks. We asked them to reflect on how a glowstick has to break to shine and then we asked them to create something beautiful with the glowsticks that we gave them. The glowsticks have become a way for us to symbolize you and the light that you shined. We hope to keep your glow going. Thank you for inspiring us and showing us how one willing heart can have an impact on a whole community of people. Happy Birthday Sarah Rose! We love you so much.
Be sure to click here to follow and Like the GLOW like Sarah Fund Facebook page. That way you’ll get updates about community events and fundraising opportunities. We’ve also started a GoFundMe page for an easy way to donate today. We’ve seen what happens when a community pulls together and we can’t wait to see how God will grow the GLOW!
