Dear Friends

I have a dear friend named Tonya. She is one of those people that you instantly connect with upon meeting her. She is funny, charismatic, and has a lot of personality. Tonya is a helper and she is known for her heart for people.

Tonya is also one of those people who can rope you into doing whatever she wants you to do. Once, she got my husband and me to volunteer in our city’s annual toy drive. She also somehow convinced me to attend a luncheon which turned out to be a city-wide planning event for Super Bowl activities. I remember looking around the room and thinking, How did I get myself into this? The answer was Tonya.

A few weeks ago, I saw her at church and she said, “Girl, we need to talk, let’s have lunch.” I laughed because we have attempted to have lunch several times before and she was either unavailable or had to cancel because something came up. “I am off the week of Thanksgiving. Let’s have lunch then,” I suggested. She agreed, and I told her I would confirm in a few days. She laughed and said, “Great, I got lots to tell you.” We hugged and I told her I would be in touch.

Now, I was secretly thinking, I know why Tonya wants to have lunch. She’s got some pet project she wants me to volunteer for or attend. I was ready to tell her, “No, sister, not this time.”

In my heart, I just knew she had a plan.

A few days later, my friend Tonya suddenly died. She was 37.

I was heartbroken. I still am.

Live Each Day With Purpose

Tonya was a person who lived a full life in her short 37 years. She lived her life out loud and with all of her heart. There are people God brings into our lives for a season that help us get outside of our box. Tonya had the gift of helping you see how your time and talent could be used to help other people. She was gifted in this way and taught me a valuable lesson. Tonya taught me about service.

It’s natural to talk about tomorrow and things you’ve planned to do, but no one knows if tomorrow will even come for us. We must live each day with purpose. We must be sure we have a relationship with God.

Make the most of each day and spend some time with God. I’ll never know what Tonya wanted to talk about, but I’m glad I know she had a relationship with Christ.

The bible says “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

I am waiting for Joy. #lessonlearned