Happy Heavenly 36th Birthday, sis. 🤍
Four birthdays of you celebrating with Jesus.
I selfishly wish I was the one celebrating with you today, but I know you are in your glory. It is still so hard to imagine life continuing without you physically here for all the little pieces of it. And yet, somehow, you truly are still in every moment.
I think about you every second of every day. Clara mentions you so often, and it makes my heart ache and swell with pride at the same time. How does she remember a bond she lost when she was only 2? Kenzie loves to stare at the pictures of you around our house. We will make sure she grows up knowing you and feeling that same bond with you, although somehow it already seems to come naturally.
It hurts. But it is also beautiful.
I think that is one of the beautiful things about faith. About spending time in the Word and knowing that this life isn't the end. I don't understand, and I will never understand, why Sami had to go. There are days I still want to ask God why. But even without understanding, I have peace. I know where my sister is. I know who she is with. I trust God’s plan, that he is Lord, and that His plan is sovereign and good, even when it hurts us here. Even when I don't understand it. Even when I would have written the story differently.
And if you knew Sami, you know that faith wasn't just something she talked about when life was easy. She lived it when life became unimaginably hard.
Sami showed up for people.
She was the one running around with the kids long before she was sick, and somehow she continued doing it while enduring chemo. She celebrated people. Whether you were facing cancer, your family was walking through something hard, or you were simply having a bad day, Sami would find a way to bring joy into it.
And I can confidently say if she had a minute, she would find a way to tell you about Jesus.
This girl was not afraid. She was afraid for the ones she loved and was leaving behind, but she was not afraid of where she was going (that is who my sister was, selfless - worrying about all of us instead of herself).Â
Some of Sami's last words will forever be written on our family's hearts:
“Mom, I need you to be okay with God’s plan, whatever it is. Don’t be bitter. Teach the children to love Jesus like I do. Jesus loves you. I love Him.”
That is Sami.
That is why we keep showing up.
That is why we gather.
That is why we celebrate.
And that is why we will keep telling people about the Jesus she loved so deeply.
The Jesus that keeps us grounded and trusting His plan even when it hurts.Â
Today is historically our biggest registration day for Sami Strong
, and this year I want to ask you to help us do something BIG for her 36th birthday.
Let's make this the biggest Sami Strong event in our history.
Bring your family. Bring your kids. Come eat, laugh, fellowship, walk with us in remembrance, and celebrate the people we love. Come whether cancer has touched your family or not. Come if life has been hard. Come if you simply want to be part of something filled with faith, family, hope, and community.
Because that is exactly what Sami would want.
Every registration helps us continue what she started without even realizing she was starting it… to show up for families, love people through the hard things, and most importantly, point them to Jesus.
Happy birthday, sis. I miss you more than words could ever say.
Until we get to celebrate together again. I love you.
"Jesus loves you. I love Him."
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