The Joy of Abby-Jill March 16, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Family, Church, Inside Park, Leader Zone , trackbackThis weekend I sat with hundreds of others (really an old-timers Park alumni meeting, it seemed like) and celebrated the life of Abby-Jill Marie Brauhn, a friend and former staff-member at Park Community Church, who lost her battle with cancer this week. Rich Case did an excellent job in his message and Rich Johnson was superb leading the worship…..there were so many Park alums who joined together to do the set-up food and singing….. it was Park at its finest. The stories that people told were so funny and so typical Abby-Jill.
My most stiking memory was how Abby loved everyone. Yes, she was very skilled at business, yes she was a terrific organizer, yes, she was a top-notch leader….but she loved people. From the rich to the poor, from the “got-it-together” to the down-trodden and broken-spirited. I learned a lot about people caring from Abby — she wanted each person to know the security she had through her faith in Jesus Christ. She has such joy in her relationship with Jesus. That’s what I will remember most…..
I know there were lots of people whose life she touched in dramatic ways over the years through coffee conversations, to late night dinners, to pajama parties for her girlfriends to travelling with others. More than 300 people took Park trips to the FFHM orphanage under her watch and had their lives completely changed. I am profoundly sad and greatly grieving her loss.
I also realized, like my friend Jill’s post, that in that celebration service with so many 1990’s Park alumni there, I yearned for a moment in time that I can never go back to (and so that is probably part of my grief too). We got to sing all my favorite praise songs (which were also Abby-Jill’s favorites) with so many people that I love to hang out with, yet many have disbursed all over the country with scores of kids and new responsibilities.
As Jill said so well “This week Abby-Jill got to fully realize what I got a glimpse of this weekend. We aren’t meant for this world and I find myself strangely longing for that place when I am once again singing in a room full of “family” without a care in the world. Thank you AJB for reminding me and for touching my life once again.”
God gave us Abby-Jill for a moment and she is home now with the Father.
Man, heaven is going to be a good place, dontcha think?……..
Check out another Park alum’s thoughts here.
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THanks for the link. It is funny so many of us were feeling the same thing. Loved seeing you this weekend!!
I will always remember the trip my wife and I were able to take with Abby-Jill to Bolivia and Peru under hers and Janelle Keller’s leadership.
After helping build a church in Cochabamba, Bolivia, our group hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu together. Long days hiking left plenty of time to chat together, and I remember lots of conversation and laughing and complaining about the climb with Abby-Jill. And let’s put it this way, Abby-Jill was ready for our hike to be over when it was done. The whole trip was a blast.
She truly is a great example of someone passionate about following Jesus’ words in Matthew 22:37-39.
I was profoundly moved by the weekend and particularly by something that Mike Zehfuss said, and which you are getting at here too, Steve. It was like the wedding that Abby-Jill dreamed of, close friends gathered to see her joined with the groom, a celebration and the beginning of the next stage for her, but we are left behind, happy but saddened by the end of our time with Abby Jill. And I think there was a beauty about the gathering of old friends but also a sadness at the passing of time. But above and beyond all, there was Abby-Jill’s legacy of love and joy and exuberant Faith. What a privilege and an inspiration to have known her.