{"id":420,"date":"2012-09-12T21:36:03","date_gmt":"2012-09-12T21:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=420"},"modified":"2012-09-12T21:36:03","modified_gmt":"2012-09-12T21:36:03","slug":"17-days-to-go-the-reason-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=420","title":{"rendered":"17 Days to Go: The Reason Why"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dear Reed:<\/p>\n

It just occurred to me that you would be 17 years old this year, and today is the 17day countdown to the final big day of your run.\u00a0Isn’t it funny how God works on his\u00a0timing of ideas? \u00a0You gave us a lifetime of memories, and we have chosen several small memories to remember each year at the run.<\/p>\n

Our whole focus has been to remember you and what a shining light you were in this world. As time has gone on, our hearts don\u2019t hurt as bad, but that doesn\u2019t mean we miss you less.\u00a0 I think the reason why is that with each passing day our heart focus for Reed\u2019s Run has been\u00a0more and more about the God you loved.\u00a0 And as much as we love you, we realize that this is small beans in comparison to how much God LOVED you and all of us. \u00a0That LOVE has helped our hearts to begin to heal.<\/p>\n

I think we\u2019ve been asked about a hundred times, why this is the last Reed\u2019s Run.\u00a0 The reasons are twofold, but we wanted you to know that by not doing the run doesn\u2019t mean we love you or think about you any less.\u00a0 You would be very proud of the people your friends have grown up to be.\u00a0 They have blossomed and continued to be people that you would still call friends.\u00a0 But as graduation approaches, Dad and I wanted them to go out and impact this world (carrying a little piece of you) with each of them.\u00a0 I know that many of them (as they are half of our committee) would come back if we continued on, but that is not what I want them to do.\u00a0 So even though we said it in a quiet voice, we meant it when we said, \u201cThe run will only last four years. The four years Reed would have been in high school.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second and main reason is one that I know you will understand.\u00a0 I know because you were always a team player and an incredible\u00a0big brother. Next year, both Sawyer and Erin will be in high school, and if their busyness now is any indication, we are going to be lucky to see them.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to miss one minute of what they are doing because I am tied to Reed\u2019s Run work.\u00a0 I know that you would be right there cheering them on if you could be; so, I will cheer loud enough for the both of us.<\/p>\n

I have never lied to you, even in some of life\u2019s big questions like why did you have to have keratoconus.\u00a0 I just told you that we had to believe that God has a plan.\u00a0 Even though, I am fully confident that we are doing the right thing with letting the season of Reed\u2019s Run come to an end, I am going to miss many things about the day.\u00a0 I am probably not going to miss 18 hour days to accomplish all the little details, but I am going to miss the gathering of friends and family.\u00a0 The hugs, the remembrance, and the honoring of those we admire are big parts of the day for me.<\/p>\n

We will still be doing small things here and there to raise dollars for your fund, yet we aren\u2019t sure what that is going to look like.\u00a0 But whatever we decide to do, it will always involve something that you loved.\u00a0 So while I am preparing to say good-bye to your run, I am looking forward to more time with the rest of Team Stevens.\u00a0 And always, ALWAYS, I am looking forward to the day that I get to see you, our babies (my own little welcoming committee) and Jesus.\u00a0 Where all of y\u2019all can fill me in on what ripples in God\u2019s pond your story had on the lives of others.\u00a0 Then, I will I have all eternity to listen.<\/p>\n

I love you always, Reed!<\/p>\n

Mom<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Reed: It just occurred to me that you would be 17 years old this year, and today is the 17day countdown to the final big day of your run.\u00a0Isn’t it funny how God works on his\u00a0timing of ideas? \u00a0You gave us a lifetime of memories, and we have chosen several small memories to remember […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[290,357,519,526],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}