This is going to be great year!

On August 2nd, 1989, Carol and I went on our first date to Evita.  I don't recall the musical much at all but I remember the evening well.  We married 10 months later.  It was 5 years ago when I last my had a conversation with Carol.  I recapped our conversation and said, “This is going to be a great year.” And she left.  That sounds sad, but the truth is that it was a great year.  It was a great 24 years.  Carol and I had a life with all of its fun and excitement, but also frustrations and disappointments.  Don't tell the kids, but we even had an argument once, about peaches.  The reason I mention this is that when I look back at all the pictures from 1989 to 2013, I was reminded of dumb things I said and did, decisions I made both good and bad.  But I smiled as I walked through the years.

There are a bunch of pictures of vacations, fancy dresses, cute kids, new houses, and super hot moms (well one anyway).  But this is definitely my favorite.  This is a picture of us on a family mission trip in 2012.  What I see in this picture is everything I just mentioned, but I mostly see someone who enriched others by pouring into their lives and making their years great also.  I will be forever thankful for the great years we had with her.

Two Years but Still Spreading Smiles

By: April Sylvester
It has been two whole years. In that time, Dad has successfully moved houses, I have been figuring out being an adult for a year, Anna is a pro at college by now, and Audrey and Adam are knee deep in high school life. But even through all the changes two years brings with it, mom is still a part of us (literally and figuratively). And I would like to share a short story about mom that shows that loving spirit that I so very much want to emulate. So here we go:

We were staring at the array of pictures splayed across the blue Compassion International table cloth in front of us as an eagerly jittery volunteer floated behind like a Christian social-justice Cheshire cat. It was only a couple of months until I was to embark on my first trip to Africa with the youth team from Perimeter Church’s Global Outreach, and my mom and I had walked up to the nonprofit's table in our church’s lobby with the intention of committing to $30 per month to support a needy child in Tanzania. My mom picked up one photo: it was a girl about 8 years old, in a puffy pink dress, with a beaming smile that lit up her round face. Then she picked up another photo: a boy of about the same age with dirty slacks, arms pinned to his side, and a huge scowl on his face.  Mom looked from one card to another and then asked the Cheshire cat if we could take both home to pray over the decision. The volunteer just smiled.

Back home at our kitchen table, mom laid down both pictures and asked me which child I thought we should support. I wanted the girl. She was cute and smiling. I would want that kind of girl as my penpal. But mom picked up the boy, looked at his face and said, “He doesn’t look very happy." "Exactly," I thought. "I think he needs it more. Let’s give him something to smile about.” Even though that seemed like the most illogical decision to my shallow preteen brain, I am now floored by my mom’s compassion. She did not choose the shiny, fun, option, but the option that Christ would have chosen--one of extending care and relationship to the most unlikely of the world. 

A few months later I did get to visit Charles and, though it took a day, lots of coaxing, and a spontaneous soccer match, he did show us a glimpse of his bright and beautiful smile. That was all thanks to mom!

Happy Birthday Carol!

I really looked forward to one tradition that Carol created for birthdays in our house.  On someone's birthday, Carol would go through our family photos and pull one out of the birthday boy or girl and put it in a frame on the kitchen table.  When each of us came down for the morning devotion, a big 8.5x11 shot of the birthday kid was on display for all of us to see.  The picture was some really cute shot that would spark laughter and stories.  Afterward we would thank God that He brought the birthday boy/girl into our family.  Carol even did this for me.  But we never did it for Carol.  First, I was never up as early as Carol.  But, second, we didn't have any photos of Carol when she was young.  The last time I was at her parent's house, I dug out the some of their old slides and had them converted.  So, here's looking at you kid!

Carol was born in New York City.  She hated cold weather for the 25 years I knew her.   This was the only shot I saw of her in the snow, obviously not too excited about it.  I am sure she was delighted with their move to Birmingham!  

Thank you God for bringing this girl into this world for all of us to enjoy!

Thank you!

Many have approached me about the anniversary of Carol's passing.  I really have not thought about the year since Carol has been gone.  Everyday I wake up, it was yesterday.  I think about how Carol was always up before the sun.  The lamp was on by the chair with her devotion on the side table.  The coffee was already made and an empty cup was on the counter by the sink.  It was very rare to see Carol when I got up, but it would have been in that green chair in the corner...quite possibly yesterday.

Although it has been a year as well. The line of people sharing how their lives were impacted in some way by knowing Carol was a year long.  It has been a year of carpools, track meets, play practices, and volleyball games that Carol would have made into a day.  I miss Carol a year--every day.  

But most of all, it has been a year of seeing the body of Christ come alive and shower our family with grace (unmerited favor for those of you who don't attend Perimeter).  I cannot do it personally, but I want to thank everyone for a year, helping our family, loving us and most of all sharing in the joy for having known this remarkable woman.

The Sylvesters

Missing you!

I just wanted you to know how much I miss seeing Carol every Saturday morning. My body pump class followed hers. She would always welcome me with her warm smile. She touched so many lives and I'm so blessed that I got to know her. Because of her influence, I am a regular participant in Melissa Hayes yoga class that she took over for Carol at the AAC. She reminds me a lot of Carol, very spiritual and uplifting. God Bless Carol Sylvester and her family!

In His Name,

Margaret

Serving Others Even While on Vacation

One of my favorite memories of Carol comes from one of our beach trips.  We would often take our families to Florida and share a house on the beach.  This particular day my husband, Stuart, and I were sitting on the beach soaking up the sun and being very lazy.  We turned around just in time to see Carol stepping out of our house followed by a flock of our kids.  Smiles on their faces and food in their hands, they proceeded to hurry down the beach.  We found out that they had come across a homeless man down the beach so Carol escorted our children back to the house to make this man lunch, and then deliver the food.  It was affirmation to me that Carol was an extraordinarily special and giving human being.  And, she was a perfect role model for all of our children.  She believed in serving others and never stopped, even while on vacation.  There were many lives whom she touched, some we know about and probably as many that we never even knew about.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Written by Teresa Swinehart

Words from Christy Mosher

While I never had the opportunity to know Carol in person, I know her in spirit, for she lives on in the life of her family. It has been a privilege to get to know her sweet daughter, Audrey, through my husband's seventh-grade 2013-2014 class. Carol must have lived out her faith in word and deed (as so many have testified that she did!), for Audrey has handled this most difficult turn in her life's journey with grace. The beauty of the truth of the gospel is that Carol is not dead, but alive, and one day I will know her personally as we worship Jesus together in heaven. I look forward to meeting this amazing woman, for she has brought glory to God in both life and death. Until then, I continue to lift up in prayer the sweet Sylvester family. May the peace that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. He loves you, and so do the Moshers!

Sincerely,

Christy Mosher