One Body

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of emotion for me and the people that I am surrounded with. Shock, sadness, heartache and confusion are just a few of the many emotions that engulfed our hearts as we learned of the sad news of the passing of our friend, Julia. Though we still ache to have conversations and spend time with her, we have found peace in the fact that she is in heaven with her Jesus. This has been a challenging two weeks for all of us, and I speak for most of my friends when I say that without the love and support of each other we probably would've had a much harder time than we've had. There's a word for this love and support that we find within the people around us- and that word is community. Community is a basic concept yet it means something a little different to everyone. My favorite definition of community is simply put: a unified body of individuals. 

As the reality of this tragedy that we experienced set in hard- one thing became very apparent. We really are created for community. Scripture proves that in one of my favorite verses in the bible. Hebrews 10:24-25 sums up the concept of community beautifully- "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." I love the way The Message (a contemporary translation of the Bible) interprets the same verse as above by saying- "Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching." How cool is that? Jesus wants us to have friends. He wants us to do life with the people around us. He wants us to encourage one another, meet together, worship together, laugh together and even cry together. Because lets be honest- doing those things alone just isn't that much fun.

This is what my community looks like! 

The community I have found in Milledgeville this past year has been unreal. I have found a group of people who love Jesus and each other, which is the perfect combination for intentional friendships and the community that we were created for. This year I have felt loved, appreciated and encouraged by people that I am proud to call my community. The past two weeks I watched in awe as my Young Life community of forty or so college kids (and countless people not involved in YL) stepped up in prayer and support to lift up Julia and her family. I heard the word "community" thrown around many times throughout the past two weeks, but I got a real picture of it last Monday night; as my friends were continuing to trickle back into Milledgeville to be together after we heard Julia had passed. We gathered at our fearless area director Phil's house for a meal provided by our wonderful YL committee members, who filled our stomachs with barbecue and the best strawberries I've ever tasted. But it was about much more than the food that night- as my eyes scanned the room, I couldn't help but smile as I saw pockets of joy shine through the darkness that hung over the room. I heard laughter as I watched people engage in conversations that revolved around Julia's life. I saw smiles overcome the exhaustion that many of us had been battling for many days. Isn't it great how light always shines through in the darkness? 

As the night went on I continued to watch the people around me and I began to feel more at peace with what we were all going through- because the bottom line was that none of us were going through it alone. Because we are a a unified body of individuals, one body in Christ,  a community, and that means that we hurt for each other and we rejoice for each other. It means that we spur each other on and hold each other accountable. It means that we do life together, every single day. There is just something truly special about this kind of community, and I love every minute of it. 

We have Jesus and we have each other- I'll rejoice in that!

Julia

As I sit at my computer writing this post, streams of tears trickle off my chin and my heart is heavy with sadness. Julia Tarter, a friend, fellow Young Life leader and Student Ambassador was called home to the Lord on Saturday- just six days after an accident involving her car. The three characteristics I used above only described Julia, they did not define her- and anyone who knew Julia would agree- only Jesus defined her.

I vividly remember meeting Julia about a year ago, the day before classes started. I was hanging out with my friend Erin and she said "Lets go see my roommate from last year, Julia." So in typical Milledgeville fashion we walked over to the White House, where six of our friends live. I remember sitting on the floor of Julia's perfectly Pinterest-ed room eating a grape slushie from Dairy Queen. As she danced around the room telling Erin about the exciting summer she had experienced at WinShape Camps as a counselor, joy poured out of her words and her smile. That was my first impression of Julia, and one that I will never forget.

Khloe & Kim, Halloween 2012

Even though I only had the privilege of knowing Julia for just one year, she quickly became a close friend of mine. We shared a love of coffee and talking fast. We bonded over our cute-yet-douchey environmental science professor, studying together the night before tests which really turned into us talking about things that were not at all school related. One particular night we sat on the floor of her room for a few hours talking about life, Christ, and of course, girly stuff. That night I got a true look inside Julia's heart and found only one thing- Jesus. Her love for Christ was evident in every single thing she did. Even on Halloween, when we had the brilliant idea to dress up as the Kardashians. She almost backed out at the last minute- because she was scared she was going to send the wrong message to people by dressing up as a trashy reality TV "celebrity." Well, Julia, I think you made a great Kim K.


She embodied 1 John 3:18 (Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth) in her everyday life, whether it be showing the gospel to her Baldwin girls or loving on her Phi Mu's, or being a light to our Student Ambassador Team. She put her heart and soul into everything that she was involved with, and that is what made Julia so special. You see, everyone that met Julia loved her deeply. That is probably why the news of her accident spread like fire. Immediately people began rallying around Julia with prayers. In six days, I witnessed people come together at the feet of Jesus like I had never seen before. I saw a closer community form within our friends, and I saw weeping friends begging for miracles. We knew that this would be a win-win situation- either Julia would be restored on this earth and she would continue to eat Nutella and jam to T-Swift with all of us; or she would be fully restored in heaven. Our prayers were that she would be fully healed, and on Saturday morning, she was. She is now home. Not home in 221, that was her temporary home. She's in her eternal home, and I really hope that there is burlap and light blue paint in heaven.


I cry because there are so many things I wish I could say to her right now. I cry for her family, and her sisters who lost their baby girl. I cry for the Baldwin High School girls who lost a beloved leader. I cry for her friends, who can no longer share a cup of coffee with her. I cry for our Young Life area, because we have lost a light in our community and a beautiful voice in our Sunday night leadership worship time. I cry because I already miss her stank face and 221 pride. I cry as I struggle to write about Julia in the past tense.

But, I also I smile. I smile because Julia is teaching Jesus her dance moves in heaven right now! I smile when I think about the hundreds of lives she has touched during her 20 years on earth, including mine. I smile, because this tragedy has pointed so many people towards Christ, and Julia would love knowing that. I smile because Julia's joy is still present on this earth. I smile because I saw the face of Jesus Christ in Julia every single day. And now, she gets to look at Jesus Christ every single day, face to face, for ETERNITY!

I smile when I think about Jesus meeting Julia at the gates of eternity with a hug and a cup of coffee, saying "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Julia, if you're reading this in heaven (do they have iPhones up there? I sure hope so.) Sorry for sleeping in your bed last week and not washing the sheets.
Also, Julia- because you touched my life, I will never be the same. Thank you for that.
Love you, sweet Julia girl.