Our loss is Heaven's gain....

Ever since hearing of the tragic death of our Pastor's wife, Tania Burgbacher, this past Tuesday in an automobile accident, I have been trying to make sense of it in my mind. Not that it has to make any sense to me. God is in control. He has a purpose and it's not always for us to understand. But here is how my mind works....

When I think of angels, they are very tangible beings...I credit that to the wonderful way that angels are depicted in 2 of my favorite books by Frank Peretti, "This Present Darkness" and Peircing the Darkness." I think that prepartions in Heaven for Tania's homecoming were at their height on Tuesday morning. Angels were readying her mansion for her arrival, the crowning ceremony was scheduled, and her bejeweled crown was polished to a brilliant shine. It may have started out as an excited undertone, but as the day wore on and the hour got closer, all of the Heaven was buzzing with anticipation. "Tania is coming today!" the angels exclaimed to each other. I believe we all have our own personal guardian angels...and I'm sure Tania's angels were in awe as they were debriefed that morning of their duties for the day....what an honor, to be able to escort their faithful servant to the Throne Room of the Most High.

Yes, those of us that were left behind, to follow her at some other appointed time, are grieving our loss. I can't even begin to imagine how her family is hurting right now. But when I think of her reception as she entered the gates of Heaven, I can't help but smile and think how lucky she is.

Golf Week!

So this past week there was an LPGA Golf tournament at a local golf course, Rivertowne, in Mt. Pleasant. It was the Ginn Tribute hosted by Annika Sorenstam. The hospital that Rachel works for were sponsors of the event and they also provided the First Aid/Medical tent. (Rachel worked the tent on Saturday). When I heard that Rachel was gonna volunteer, I started getting excited about the possibility of getting free tickets! I'm not a huge LPGA fan, but I do really like Lorena Ochoa....and Danny is a big fan of Natalie Gulbis. Plus, I was really excited about doing something I've never done before....actually, with the exception of one Braves' baseball game, I've never been to any major sporting event.


Rachel was able to score us some weekly passes, so on Wednesday, Rachel and I went to the ProAm game. On that day, we were allowed to take a camera. We couldn't take one any other day of the tournament. I was very disappointed to find out that Lorena Ochoa had to back out of the tournament due to a death in the family....I was so looking forward to meeting her. Hopefully, I'll get the opportunity next year. Also, by the time we got there and figured out where things were, we had already missed seeing Natlie Gulbis or get any pics or autographs from her.

I did get my visor autographed by Paula Creamer.

I also got an autograph from Annika Sorenstam, the host of the tournament. This is her last year of competitive golf; she announced her retirement a few months ago.

We had a lot of fun that day! Due to work, we weren't able to go to the tournament on Thursday or Friday, but Danny and I went on Saturday. We got there in time to see Paula Creamer at the 10th Hole, then as we were headed to the info booth to get the free booklets they had with player bios, we walked right by Natalie Gulbis....I grabbed Danny so he would notice too! We turned around and followed her to get her autograph on our hats. Danny was completely awestruck....that totally made his day to be able to talk to her....He watched her practice putting and driving, then we followed her around her first 9 holes. The heat was pretty bad this weekend, and it was all I could do to make it around 9 holes. I cooled off in the medical tent with Rachel while he watched some more golf....but we left after being there around 4 hours.

We went back on Sunday, and despite getting a flat tire on the way there, we made it just in time to see Natalie tee off again. Danny followed her almost the entire round, just taking a break for lunch and cooling off for a bit. Rachel and I caught a few holes here and there, but mostly tried to keep cool in the shade. The heat index was about 95 degrees. As each player finished their rounds, they made a stop at the scoring tent, then would offer autographs. We got more autographs from Paula and Natalie in our bio books so Danny can frame his and I can put mine in my scrapbook.

It was such a fun weekend, but I do not like being in the heat at all and it completely wiped me out. We did stay well hydrated and had plenty of sunscreen on, and I think after getting a lot of sleep last night and resting today, I am finally feeling back to normal.

I do look forward to going back again next year (I hope Rachel can score some more free tickets!) I hope to meet Lorena then!