Update #95 - by Danielle Kader

The day before Kristie went to Heaven I sat around her bed with Chad and their friends Bryan, Kara and Trevor, who also happen to lead worship at their church. They had come that day because in a matter of thirty minutes Bryan and Trevor had written a song for Kristie.  They came as I was about to leave and when she opened her eyes and saw them she said to me, “Don’t you dare leave.” And so, as I had done many times before, I listened to Kristie.

They sang over her (to listen to Kristie's Song click here). We sang over her. Kara prayed over her.  We prayed over her. And we all cried. When the singing was done, Kristie, frail and thin, not able to speak well, strength almost gone, looked at Kara and told her to trade places with Chad, so that Chad would be right next to her. I thought to myself and giggled inside how even though she was weak she was still bossy. Then she told Bryan to switch places with me. We obeyed. And once next to her, she turned her head toward me; eyes still closed, and asked me to tell the story of her daughter, Emilie’s adoption. I looked at Chad a little befuddled, because I wasn’t there. But Kristie insisted saying I had heard the story so many times.

Chad told the story and every now and then Kristie would inject a detail. One of those details was when they picked a name they decided to spell it with an “ie” versus the traditional “y”.  We laughed at some of the problems that causes, like never being able to find a license plate for your bicycle with your name spelled on it.

There was something about this story we were missing and I could sense a slight restlessness about Kristie because of it. Then she said, I’m going to write a book titled, It’s All About the E. I said, “Emilie will always have a piece of you because she has your ie.”  Kristie sat up (as much as she could) and turned her head to look at me, with eyes open wide. Then she lay back down.

See, Emilie and Daniel are adopted. They don’t look like Kristie and Chad. When they were naming Emilie Kristie knew that she would have Chad’s last name and she wanted Em to have a piece of her, hence the spelling of her name, Kristie with an “ie” and Emilie with an “ie”.

Emilie will always have a piece of Kristie. Because of the spelling of her name, but also because for 13 years of her life she has had a mom fully invested in her who loved her well, taught her, and poured into her.

But as I thought about Kristie’s book title I thought about how all who have known her, and even some who don’t, have a piece of her.  Her influence, because she loved Jesus and loved others well, has impacted people. So, it’s all about the “E”. The “E” is what she imprinted on our souls with the way she lived and the way she loved and the way she gave generously.  And even after she left this earth and has gone to Heaven, people are still being impacted.

My story speaks to Kristie’s story and points to God’s story. He is the Author.  My story is a piece of a greater whole. Weave all of these stories together and it starts to get exciting. But still, all point to a greater, wilder, adventure story that the Author is writing. And the stories point to the Author.

The Author is still writing. He is writing His story in your life and in the lives of those around you. God is alive! God is speaking! God is on the move!

Share your story. Email it to chadrush27@gmail.com And please know, this blog will continue. In Kristie’s memory but for Christ’s name, because her story speaks to the greater story that is still being written!

To close I want to share the lyrics that a friend of mine wrote who is in Kristie’s Wednesday night women’s Bible study. May they touch your heart as they do mine.  Remember, there is a better story.  There is an Author. And HE LOVES YOU!

Better Story by Beth Hogenmiller

You write a better story

Better than I could pen

You write a better story

Better than anyone

You are the author

You’ve written all my days

You know each battle that I will face

You come to fight for me, to save me, and win

For You win in life, You win in death

You win right now

You win in the end

You win in death, You win in life

You win right now and in the end

You write lines that make the poets leap

You write songs that swell the seas

You write prose that keeps us on our toes

You wrote down how You treasure me

And You wrote my name

In Your Book of Life

You engraved my name on Your hand

You wrote my days before the world began

Made me a part of Your Greatest Plan

You win in life, You win in death

You win right now

You win in the end

You win in death, You win in life

You win right now and in the end

Take my dim and dreary dreams

Trade them for Your own

Erase my fierce and selfish pride

That I may kneel before Your throne

Burn my pages gingerly

Pry them from my grasp

Replace them with Your artistry

And make my hope be You, at last

Update #94 - Kristie Rush by Chad

"Kristie, I am going to send out a brief update, is there anything specific that you want me to tell everyone?"

"I'm thirsty."

Thirsty for a big cup of ice water with a green bendy straw.  Thirsty for God to finish the work that He has started in her life and will bring to completion to the glory of His name.

She is thirsty.

Physically her body if failing; the medicine, being given in increasing measure to help her to breathe, is making her sleep more.  

She is at home.  She has a hospice bed in our bedroom.  Our dog Mollie hasn't moved from her side.  

We pray and hope for God to do what He and He alone is able to accomplish.  In her and my lives, and in the lives of Emilie and Daniel.

Please join me in praying that she would hear The Sovereign Lord speak.  

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.  He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.  He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"  I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know."  Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!  This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones;  I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.  I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life.  Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"  

So I prophesied as I was commanded.  And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.  I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.  Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says:  come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'"  So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.  (Ezekiel 37:1-10)

Love to you from the Rush family.

Update 93 - Hospice week 5 - from Chad

I wanted to provide a brief update on Kristie.

She has been relatively pain free and has been able to maintain consistency in her medications, food and hydration.  Her biggest struggle remains with her breathing.  This continues to be a challenge and has kept her very immobile over the past week.  There is fluid build up in her lungs and discomfort in her abdomen and that certainly has not been easy to manage.  In addition, her coughing spells have been rough for her.

With the recent changes in her health, I have begun to take some extended time away from work.  I am very thankful for the support of my company and of my coworkers that make this possible.  Because of this, I will be able to have quality time with my family.  Today marked a significant act of courage and leadership…..6 hours with Emilie at the JC Penny Hair Salon!!  We both survived and one of us will never be the same again…

We have been blessed with food and prayer, friends and family, love and support from so many.  Thank you.  Thank you for worshiping while we wait; for persevering in prayer with us and for trusting in a God who is sovereign and more than able.

Love to you all,

Chad

Update #92 - Urgent Plea

Sometimes a poorly worded, desperate prayer is what God hears from us.

Please pray for Kristie – she has taken a major setback in the past 2 days.  She is having significant difficulties breathing right now and is experiencing tightness and pain in her lungs and in her upper chest.

Ask Him, who gives us our very breath, to literally be the air that she breathes.

It is Him who can and will sustain her.

Also, pray for our children, Emilie and Daniel who are worried and quiet.

Pray also for me, that I would stand and not fall.

Thank you,

Update #91 1/2 - Pictures Only

Update #91: Home, Even Sweeter Home

Well…my friends, are you tired of hearing about our crazy trip to Disney yet?

Good.  I won't share anymore stories FROM Disney, but I wanted to share with you our story of coming HOME because it was just as marvelous and unexpected and breath-catching.  

We got up this morning at 3:30 to catch the bus from our resort to the airport.  [Sadly, we had to leave KRUSH (my beloved scooter) behind.  It was a tender moment saying goodbye to her.  You'd be proud of me; I didn't cry as I had to leave her looking lonely next to the bell hop. My only wish for her was that someone else wouldn't treat her as a china doll, but rather as the tough girl that she really is.]

We had a totally uneventful direct flight to Buffalo and landed around 9:30 AM, all prepared to be met by our friend John Moore to drive us home.  As we walked out of the exit hallway, we saw this man holding a sign that said, "Rush Family."  

What is this?!?

Turns out someone sent a limo to the airport to come and get us and take us home!  What??

Kenny Driver (real name - he showed me his driver's license) was a GREAT limo driver and took us to our friends Ryan and Danielle Kader's house where their two year old, Sullivan, explored his first limo.  Sully was excited about the limo, but he was most excited because he just LOVES Buzz Lightyear and, the day before, we emailed a picture of the four of us with Buzz, and Sullivan was now convinced that this new fancy-dancy limo would take him to Buzz and Woody's house.  He was vastly disappointed when we all left their house, taking our dog Mollie Moo, with us and he didn't get go visit Buzz and Woody.  Oops. Sorry, Sullivan.  

Mollie Moo took to the limo like a puppy who has longed for a life of even more leisure and spoiling and, believe it or not, within 30 seconds BOTH she and Emilie were fast asleep and missed the excitement of the entire ride home.   

I then texted my neighbor, Julie, to let her know that we'd be coming by soon in a limo and her three little ones might want to get their coats on to come over and check it out before Kenny Driver had to get to his next job.  

Well…as we pulled into our neighborhood and got closer to our house…it became clear that our time of being TOTALLY spoiled was not yet over!  We pulled up to our house and saw our entire driveway lined with the cutest row of about 20 snowmen you've ever seen. Some of them even fully dressed!  We had snow forts carved into our snow as well as Welcome Home signs painted in the snow and, Chad's favorite, a Snoopy carved on top of his very own house as you'd see in the Peanuts cartoon.  We later learned that some of those friends then circled our home and prayed over us like they did last winter. 

And…within minutes of our arrival we found out who the culprits were who were largely responsible for making this grand surprise happen: Christine and Tracy (who both are/were affiliated with WNY Make-A-Wish and who coordinated puling off this surprise in less than 3 days); Christian (who took all the amazing pictures you'll see; and Julie (our neighbor who loves us well and who knows our garage code!) Not only did they gather neighbors and friends to carve our snowman greeting parade, but they also invited them to FILL OUR HOME to over-flowing with balloons, fun little gifts, and yummy treats all decorated to a Dr. Seuss theme. 

Can you say, "Surprised?!?!?"

While I could say a ton more, the truth is that my mouth is sore from smiling, and my head is sore from shaking it back and forth in disbelief, and my jaw is sore from dropping open in utter amazement, and my brain is sore from trying to wrap itself around all this generosity and lavish love poured out over us by those who love us and love God.   

While I should be embarrassed by all this lavish love, the truth is that – If I'm honest - I have just flourished in receiving it.  It has refreshed my spirit, strengthened my mind, and encouraged my heart to continue to press into Him, trusting Him even more for the steps that lie ahead for our family – whatever those steps may be.  It has been just as great a joy - if not greater - to watch our children (and nephews too) come to understand that, often God calls us to be wise and practical stewards of that which He has entrusted to us and, yet, sometimes He calls us to be almost ridiculous in the extravagance we show in worshipping Him and letting others know that He loves them too.  To watch our kids embrace being delighted has been beyond–fun and a powerful opportunity to speak new truths to them. 

So…to ALL of you who had a hand in either our Disney or our Welcome Home extravagant pouring out of love over our family…whether you ordered a floral arrangement, sent a Valentine's Day card, froze your tushy off making a snowman, lifted us in prayer, encouraged us via a comment on FB or an email note, bought us a silly little gift that made us giggle, or told us in words that you love us…. WE ARE THANKFUL FOR YOU.  So incredibly thankful. You have made these past 8 days unlike NONE other we have experienced.  We will forever be grateful and would love to thank each one of you in person.  In fact, my mother is beside herself wondering how thank you notes will be sent out to each of you!!! (Not gonna happen and I assured her that none of you were in it for the thank you note!)

Update 90 1/2: Pictures Only

Because of technical difficulties (urgh!)...

I couldn't post pictures of some of the gifts that we received on Valentine's Day from friends from Grove City College.  So....you can visit my Facebook page (kristie.rush@facebook.com)  and see a few pictures if you're interested!

Sorry.
Trust me; It's a good thing I don't have much hair because it all would have been pulled out!

(Is that funny? I think it's funny!)

K.