UPDATE: Remembering Tonia: A Christmas Prayer concert!

The concert is a go! We would like to invite you to attend Remembering Tonia: A Christmas Prayer on Sunday, December 6 at 7:00 pm.

We will be using this concert as the kickoff for the Tonia Brundage Memorial Foundation. This is the non-profit group that we are working on establishing. I know that most of our friends can't physically be at the concert but I also know that you are all prayer warriors. Please be in prayer for the people involved, for travel and for all of the details. This is going to be a very special evening.

If you are able to attend, let me know! This will encourage all of us and also give us a chance to say hello in person!

Here are the details:

Save the date! There will be a Memorial concert held on December 6 at St. Johns United Church of Christ 183 South Broad Street, Nazareth, PA 19151. Their phone number is (610) 759-0893.

Tonia's high school friend, Karla, wanted to do something in memory of Tonia. Last summer she sang at a benefit concert for a local woman's shelter and dedicated one of the songs in Tonia's memory. She created a poster with pictures and had it there with her. This year she wanted to do more. Tonia graduated from Nazareth High School in 2000. A bunch of her friends did not learn of her death until after the funeral. Slowly we have been hearing from these friends via email, by phone and even through this blog. It has been very sweet to hear the stories about their antics during high school and see some pictures from then. That brings us back to this concert.

It will be held at Karla's church. We will be there of course: to cheer her on, to meet Tonia's friends face to face, to cry, to rejoice, to remember! What a perfect way to remember Tonia through the songs that she loved. There is no fee to get in but Karla will asking for a love donation to cover expenses. She asked us what we wanted to do with any left over donations.

After much thought and prayer we have decided to create a new non-profit organization in Tonia's name. I have been in touch with our accountant and we will be starting the process very soon. The foundation will support our desire to help other family members and friends heal after the loss of a loved one through a sudden violent death. The goal is to help others find healing through God's grace. More details will be available soon!

So if you are in the area please come out to see us, to hear some wonderful Christmas music and to share in the joy of remembering.

With anticipation and hugs! Kathy

Mercy & Grace

This past several weeks was an emotional roller coaster because of lots of "stuff" going on in our lives. Getting past the emotions of the day and stopping to hear from God was a challenge. Rick and I were talking on the phone so often that I think AT&T lost money :) I spent some time with my friend, Kathy, who is also my Christian counselor, and she gave me some wise advise. Her comment was: all of the "stuff" going on in our lives was sitting right in front of us at all times. We were on overload. So she suggested that we box everything up and lock them away in a storage unit and only deal with them one at a time as we needed to. Now that seemed rather simplistic at the time she said it; but she was absolutely right. There were things going on that I had no control over and I was reacting to because they were constantly in front of me. I had to give the problem to God, box it up and lock it away until God told me to take it out and deal with it. This was a huge reminder for me. There were several issues that I kept stressing over, giving to God then grabbing them back again. So now there are several things locked away and for now I have given the key away also!! The relief I am feeling is huge.

I also had a time this week that I really needed to share somethings going on and I knew I needed prayer right then. I called Pastor Jeff at our church and asked him to meet ASAP. I have never asked this before and he was amazing. He postponed a meeting to give me time to get there, I left work early and drove to Chippewa. We talked for awhile, he asked questions that helped me to clarify my feelings and then we prayed together. How awesome to know that when we need people in our lives they are there.

Thank you dear friends! More later! Hugs

Women's Retreat

Yesterday I spoke at my church's annual women's retreat. I shared part of our story with a very special group of ladies. On Thursday night before the retreat I was feeling very nervous and very insecure. I had doubts about my ability to share God's glory and I even started getting sick to my stomach. Who am I that anyone would want to hear from me? What can I say to show how God's grace has worked in my life? I was full of self doubt.

Then later on Thursday evening I got an email from a friend of mine who was directly involved in the night I found out about Tonia's death. She wrote to me about how she had found out about Tonia's death and her reaction to having to figure out how to let me know. God's hand was very evident in her email and what she told me had happened the day Tonia died! It gave me the strength to trust God; at least long enough to get to the retreat and hear from everyone that they were praying for me :) By the time I spoke on Saturday morning I was much calmer and much more at peace. On Friday evening, Susan Reichert from Pine Valley Bible Camp and her daughter Hannah spoke. Their testimony about how God led them through the valley and into their ministry at Pine Valley was awesome. It was truly a testimony to God's work in their life. They are doing amazing things working with inner city youth every summer at camp.

On Saturday morning I was able to get through my story with out breaking down. I had to cut a bunch of it out because of the time limitations but I think that I did okay. I wanted to let the ladies know how many gifts we had been given by God and to testify to how I will continue praise him through this time even while we are walking through the valley.

Once I was through speaking and sat down, I broke down into tears. I was exhausted and I had a huge headache. But God had given me the strength to speak and it was okay that I finally hit the wall. I will continue to speak as long as God brings the opportunities to me. It was a very special weekend filled with songs and prayers and hugs!

Thank you to my special friends who have been praying for us. Your prayers have been felt!

I Love you!

After Thanksgiving

What a very emotional several days. We were blessed with family (my mom, dad, sister, and nephew) as well as dear friends of Tonia's. Amelia & Jeff and their children came to visit us this past Tuesday. What a joy to have these very special people in our home and in our lives. Thank you! Then on my birthday, Tonia's friend Wade came to spend the entire weekend. Wow, it was wonderful to have Wade, Sean and Rick to cook for and to just share precious memories. Wade has been a part of our family for years so I have my guys around!

We saw a great movie last night that made me cry; Ausgust Rush. It is definatley worth seeing. Today we went to the cemetery together. What a wake-up call to me. My wonderful, beautiful daughter is no longer enjoying the holidays with us but how grateful I am to know that she is in Heaven celebrating being with God! My emotions are all over the board. Happy for friends and family, sad over the loss in our life, and even angry that we have to deal with this. But through it all I will continue to trust that God is right here with us. He weeps when I weep and shares the memories and joy.

May God continue to bless you and your family during this very special season.