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| Leigh Anna Jimmerson lets Dean do the walking for her |
Over recent months, Shauna Niequist’s book Cold Tangerines has provided solace to me (Niequist, Shauna, Cold Tangerines – Exploring the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007.) In Shauna’s chapter “Hide and Seek” she says, "What writing teaches me, over and over, is that God is waiting to be found everywhere, in the darkest corners of our lives, the dead ends and bad neighborhoods we wake up in, and in the simplest, lightest, most singular and luminous moments. He’s hiding, like a child, in quite obvious and visible places, because he wants to be found. The miracle is that he dwells in both. I knew he dwelt in the latter, the bright and beautiful, because I had been finding him there for years, in the small moments of beauty and hope that poke through the darkness of our days.
But lately, I have been finding him not just under the darkness, but in it, right within the blackness and deadness of these days. I have found a strange beauty in the darkness, one I’ve never seen, a slower, subtler beauty, like how an old woman’s skin is more telling and rich than a teenage girl’s, how a storm can make you feel more deep emotion than a sunny day ever did…” (p. 136-137).
This Sunday, at Weatherly Heights Baptist Church in Huntsville, Alabama, we will dedicate a special place next to our sanctuary - the Leigh Anna Jimmerson Memorial Garden. To me the dedication of the memorial garden this Sunday is a reminder of the presence of God through this dark year. His mark is on the petals of the colorful flowers and in the dark soil where they take root. He is in the stories friends and family of Leigh Anna's share about her and the smile those experiences bring us. Join us this Sunday for a special dedication of the Leigh Anna Jimmerson Memorial Garden and discover its own unique meaning to you.
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| Leigh Anna, Olivia, Megan, Dean & Chris |
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| At Summit Retreat 2008 - Sarah, Claire, Kim, Leigh Anna, Bryan, Dean Chris. |
