The Rest of the Story

Recently a well known and nationally recognized radio personality, Mr. Paul Harvey, passed away. Although I am certain he was famous for many things, to me he will always be remembered for his incredible story telling ability and his famous words, "...and now for the rest of the story." We all waited through the commercial pauses for the ending to each of his stories. Time after time we were amazed at what seemed like the most normal, day to day incident turned out instead to be an incredible, life changing event.

At our church, our pastor has been encouraging all of us to "tell our stories." He reminds us and is teaching us the importance of sharing our life journeys with others. Our stories bind us together and remind us all of both the trials and triumphs we face and of God's faithfulness along the way.

This blog shares our story. We didn't plan that...didn't even want it. But it has provided us a way to share our family's journey as Amanda battles cancer. Larry created it so that we could get news out to our families and friends as we traveled, seeking treatment for Amanda. Little did we know then that it would be come a lifeline for us...words and prayers of encouragement would fill our "comment" page and help to sustain us as we grew weary. We would also learn that our story encouraged others and bound Amanda to hearts all over the world.

On Feb. 17th I posted a blog about meeting an Army Chaplain in the waiting room at MD Anderson. (If you have not read the story about his gift to Amanda, you may want to go back and do so.) There were many comments about the thoughtfulness of that Chaplain and his gift. That alone could have been a great story, but now, "...for the rest of the story..."

Shortly after returning back to Columbia, I sent an email, thanking the Chaplain and telling him how much his gift meant to Amanda. We were unaware that he had written to his commanding officer about his time at home and had told him of Amanda and our time spent in the waiting room at MD. His commanding officer was so intrigued by the story, he assigned a soldier to contact us and the Chaplain and learn more about it.

The Chaplain is a part of the 41st Fires Brigade, known as the "Rail Runners." They have a weekly newsletter which they make available to the troops and they asked permission to share our story there. We gladly gave it, hoping that this Chaplain's kindness would continue to make an impact on others.

It has. Other officers have now read it and asked to share it in their newsletters, and currently the story of this Chaplain and Amanda's gift is being sent to different units all over Iraq. My prayer is that all the soldiers who read this will feel both honored and blessed by the way they were represented and the way they are cared for by their Chaplains.

Wow. A waiting room, a Chaplain, a dog tag, a child's battle...a story. Shared through a simple post on a blog and now encouraging others here and abroad. When asked, Chaplain Allen told his commanding officer he had no idea of the significance of his gift...it seemed so simple to him.

A simple gift, a seemingly insignificant moment, yet its impact is still being felt, here and by our soldiers abroad. Our pastor is right, this is why we share our stories.

And (if I may borrow a phrase from Mr. Harvey) now you know, "the rest of the story."