Redeemed

It is mid-day on Friday. I am about to pack an overnight back to go to the Women of Joy conference in Oklahoma City – an adventure that has been planned for some time. I look forward to hearing Sarah Palin (tonight) and Anita Renfroe (tomorrow) speak, and to spending some time with my friends. I am not sure I will make the it the whole weekend, but I am really looking forward to the change of scenery and to hear the GOOD NEWS of our Lord spoken by some amazing leaders and to sing praise and worship songs until my voice is gone. To declare that I am REDEEMED by his mercy – as are all Children of God. When I get home later this weekend, I know friends and family will have started to arrive, and I can’t wait to be a little bit refreshed and renewed for that!

The funeral home called my parents yesterday to tell them they had received the copy of the Death Certificate. We were told earlier in the week that the date of death listed on the document (so, what was run the the state death reports in the Tulsa World and Daily Oklahoman) was the date he was FOUND. So, you will see in those newspapers that it says April 10 – Sunday – the date he was found. But my parents and I firmly believe he died Friday afternoon, and we will be using the date of April 8, 2011 on anything we do.

The Cause of Death on the certificate was noted as “pending.” This means the autopsy was inconclusive, and we are waiting for the toxicology report – which could take up to 2 months. Based on what we know -- that on the walk-in clinic in-take sheet he indicated his symptoms had been present for 3 days, and the manner in which he was found – we are beginning to think it was severe sepsis. He had an infection and his organs failed him. We hope the toxicology report can help clear that up, but we also know we may never really know the cause of his death.  But no matter his cause of death, we know that he has been redeemed by our savior, and he is home.

I wanted to share the note I wrote on Brian’s Facebook wall Sunday night. I was at the bar of our friends’ home in Grand Prairie, TX, and I had just spent well over an hour notifying as many of his Facebook friends as I could (before they thought I was spamming and shut off my privileges!). Here is what I wrote:

Hey Big Brother! You sure know how to stir things up around here, huh? I picked out the clothes for your body to be buried in – a Georgia Tech polo with a Final Four logo, and some olive green khaki’s – I hope that works for you. I also found the brand new Chuck Taylor’s in the corner by the dresser and threw those in as well. I know how much you liked them while you were driving (fast), so I figured you needed them. You know, you always called me the dramatic one, especially when I did things like throw the TV remote at you, but this, Big Brother, takes the cake. Always had to do one better than me, right? I know you were greeted with many open arms and lots of love. I guess they needed you more than we did. Britt says he’s jealous; yeah, me too… Anyway, Hug our grandparents for me. And Connie. I can’t wait to see you again. And, I promise to never buy a Honda.