Category Archives: Getting to Know Sydney

These are post that will allow you to get to know a little about who Sydney was, the crazy things she did, and the way she lived and enjoyed every moment she was given..A way of providing a story behind the picture

7 Years Later

. Getting to Know Sydney, Grief its Real, I think you're beautiful . , , , , , , , , ,

Friday we passed the 7 year mark. It’s unbelievable how large that number looks when my heart and mind are stuck in that moment as if time has stood still. To me it still seems like just yesterday. We don’t experience time the same way as others. I appreciate those who continue to support us and rally around us on that day so that the negative thoughts and the lies of the enemy aren’t the only ones we hear. Thank you Kristi for always posting and sharing pictures and helping me keep Sydney’s memory alive. It’s sad for me to say that after 7 years..YOU are the only one who did. Thank you to Marilyn for always sending us the most amazing crafty gifts that always seem to fit the memories and thoughts perfectly. Thank you to our faithful friends and Sydney’s faithful friends who continue to show up and sit with us. They aren’t just praying for us..they are the ones who have answered Gods call for them to be the answer to our prayers. I know that is a call many don’t want, and have avoided. Thank you to those few who have continued to love us instead of treating us like we don’t exist. After 7 yrs I can honestly say I still need as much love and support as I did the day it happened. After 7 years I still so desperately desire to know that Sydney’s life and love have not been forgotten. Thank you to the few people who couldn’t come by but reached out and sent messages letting us know they were thinking about and praying for us. Knowing they remembered some how makes us feel a little less alone. I have always been the easiest person in our family to approach. Stacy does not get a lot of people reaching out to him. His response is often filled with some RAW truth that many just want no part of. I am so very thankful that Marty Wilkinson and Robert Mumford cared enough to reach out to him. You have no idea what that meant to him. Thanks again for all those who were selfless enough to think of us and Sydney as we reluctantly move into another year without a part of us. I miss Sydney and I miss who I was when she was here. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be and I’m forever tossing in life trying to find a more comfortable position. One that doesn’t seem to present that throbbing ache inside my heart. I wish it was like the other throbbing aches, the ache that a little Advil could take care of, but it isn’t arthritis and no matter how much I toss and turn nothing feels comfortable, nothing feels right. I continue because I woke up breathing this morning and trust that if God gave me breathe then he has a purpose for me today. I have experienced his strength to carry me beyond my capabilities so I continue to follow him because he is the only one that has the fix to my tossing and turning. Not a new bed, not a doctor, not a therapist..just JESUS🙏🏻

Beauty

. Getting to Know Sydney, Grief its Real, I think you're beautiful, Sydney's Book . , , , , , , , , ,

Missing you still consumes me and memories sustain me as I wait for the day God blesses me with seeing you again. As much as I hurt I’m also thankful that God blessed me with memories I can share. Her heart was beautiful❤️#missablekindofgirl#Godsttuth

Sydney’s Tumblr Bio

. Getting to Know Sydney, Grief its Real, Sydney's Book . , , , , , , , , , , ,

I know I’ve posted this before but every year this comes back up in my memories I just sit in awe. She truly loved others and wanted to share. 7 years ago today she updated her tumblr bio with this❤️ My #missablekindofgirlSydney Lisa Jeter

Tenth Avenue North

. Getting to Know Sydney, Grief its Real, Play for Jeter . , , , , , , , , ,

Several months ago, I grabbed some tickets to see a very special band Tenth Avenue North. For those who don’t know the story. Their song By your side was the last song playing in the car the night Sydney met Jesus. I hadn’t ever heard of the band prior to that but I immediately had to go listen. I cannot tell you the peace and comfort the words brought me, and then I came across Hold my heart and that song literally described my heart. Music was the tool God used to help me survive. The words to these songs were the truth I needed to be reminded of. Music somehow made me feel connected to God and heaven, which connected me to Sydney. I also know that God specifically chose this band to be a part of my journey. I had no idea when I got the tickets that this would end up being the last tour they would do as Tenth Avenue North. I can’t explain to you in a post all the ways God worked all around us the past several years through them. God is so good and these guys were so amazing. We got to sit on the bus and have coffee with them and just talk to them. There were only 6 of us. We got to share a little of Sydney’s story with them and thank them for the music they created and the sacrifice they make to be away from their family. We got to ask them about their lives and where they find encouragement when times get tough for them. I had 3 Play For Jeter bracelets with me and after the small group got through talking, I asked them if they would want to wear one of Sydney’s bands for my picture. They all said of course❤️These little small things mean so much. They actually kept them on throughout the concert. I know it’s just a bracelet but seeing it on someone’s arm never fails to make me smile. I always feel like Sydney is there with me but I couldn’t help but feel God gave her the opportunity to be there with them. Thank you God! My cup runneth over. Wishing them lots of luck on their next chapters and some much needed family time. Here are some pictures and videos from the night. Yes Mike personally made our coffee, yes he stood in our chairs, yes he played both songs By your Side and Hold my heart. #PlayForJeter #missablekindofgirl #tenthavenuenorth #noshametantour

I can only imagine

. Getting to Know Sydney, Grief its Real . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m not sure if anyone else has done this but I think a lot about the moment Sydney met Jesus which in a few short hours will be exactly 5 yrs ago. I can only imagine the peace he brought to her after being thrashed around. It’s a blessing for me to know that she didn’t have long before the accident began and she was standing present before The Lord perfectly new with not one single injury. Healed in a way we think and try to understand but can not. Her life upon earth may have ended at that moment but her real life was just beginning. As much as I’d like to think she stayed around the accident watching us, worried about us and how we would make it, like the movies would show..I know she didn’t. Instead she was standing with The Prince of Peace, she was not holding on to Bible versus..she was experiencing him personally. Can you imagine the amount of love she felt at that moment. Anyone who knew Sydney knew all she ever wanted in this life was to be loved. She loved others so deeply because that’s how she wanted to be loved and at this moment she would no longer have to try and get that from broken people who were incapable of providing it. No more heartbreak or heartache because God’s love is perfect. Her hearts desire truly standing right before her offering his hand however I’m sure she probably talked him into giving her a piggyback ride💞I find peace in knowing she is free from the pain and heartache of this world and at the same time ache to the depths of my soul because I want so badly to share in these moments as I know her smile and laughter would be far greater than what she experienced here. So thankful for God’s promises and the sacrifice of Jesus. I can’t wait to join her and sit as she tells me the real story of when she met Jesus because I’m positive my imagination and thoughts can not come close to the truth of her actual experience but I find peace knowing it wouldn’t be less than my imagination but instead abundantly more!

As the 5 year mark slowly creeps up on me

. Getting to Know Sydney, Grief its Real . , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As the 5 yr mark slowly creeps up on me..my heart starts to beat faster and the anxiety begins to flare. How in the world is this possible. It still seems so unreal. There have even been days I’ve had to stop and voice to myself She was real, she was here, and this did really happen. How have I lived this long without her? How do I keep going? How does my heart continue to beat? I’m exhausted from missing her. In the first couple of years, I dealt with the trauma of loosing her, then slowly moved into a deep depression as I struggled with the loss of joy and happiness she infused into my life. Not many changes happened in the first two years, but as year 3 approached the “she would have’s” started as the kids her age began the next steps of life like graduating and going off to college. I tried as hard as I could to focus on the blessing it was to have her instead of the pain of not having her but as hard as I try the pain is simply impossible to diminish. I slowly learned how to manage and balance the weight I constantly carry around. I can promise you TIME DOES NOT HEAL but you do learn with time what makes it better and what makes it worse. Time teaches you that you survive despite the fact that you aren’t strong enough. Time teaches you that the pain doesn’t ease but you get use to carrying the weight. Time is our biggest enemy yet is also our best friend. Each day is another day we must live missing them but each day is also a day closer to seeing them again. It is time that helps you to process the trauma of what happened, and time that forces you to face the reality that they aren’t coming back. I remember in the beginning I thought I would never see the day when I thought about her without thinking about the accident but it was time that got me to the place where I remember her and all the things she’s did without thinking of the accident. The thing that makes time unable to heal is the fact that time can not take away the missing her part. It is the one thing that over the last 5 years hasn’t changed or even slightly eased. I miss not only everything about who she was but I miss all that she would have been and all she would have done. I’m 100 percent positive I will never conquer the missing her part so I am more than thankful for the people in our lives who continue to help us remember her and keep her memory alive. The memories of our last 3 months together are filled with some of the hardest moments I ever had with her but also some of the best. I’m blessed to know that by the time..”Time” takes me to the 5 years mark, my memories and Sydney’s post and writings will continue to remind me of her heart, where she put her trust, and the faithfulness of God. It was May 10th I made a call to a friend seeking some godly wisdom..May 12th (Mother’s Day that year) that we followed the push of the Holy Spirit and walked into a church Sydney said she felt God called her to attend. Confession-Sydney had told me she felt called to go there about 6 months prior and I said NO and left absolutely no room for discussion because selfishly I didn’t want to go to a new church or a small church. I think back now and wonder what blessings my stubbornness and control stole from me in those 6 months because what followed in the next 2 months couldn’t have happened without us surrendering and trusting God to work and BELIEVING that living obediently to the scriptures was our missing piece. What a blessing to have witnessed something I can find no other words for then Agape. The ultimate, incomparable and unconditionally love God has for humankind. The next couple of months will be as impossible as they’ve always been but I know the cure to my impossibility and I will do in the next couple of months exactly what I did 5 years ago just two short months before she died..I will surrender and trust God to work but this time when I fall backwards I’m not hesitant, I’m not making sure he’s behind me, I don’t have to ask him “are you sure you going to catch me” I know without a shadow of a doubt he will be there because he hasn’t left my side. I hope you see me Sydney! I hope you see me living out the truth we were studying. You don’t need it now, but so many others still do. I love you and promise to continue using “time” to work for God, hoping to see him do for others what he did for you and for me.

Our relationship

. Getting to Know Sydney . , , , ,

This day 5 yrs ago is a perfect example of mine and Sydney’s relationship. It was filled from sun up to sun down and I was with her the entire time. I helped her with her make up and had previously convinced her that I could do her hair better than a salon😳 Even though I was stressed it wouldn’t look good enough, we still laughed and smiled the entire time. Most 16 year olds would make sure they shook their mom at some point before the dance or at least after. Not my girl😊She… had me chaperone and when they weren’t dancing she would skip over to me to stand next to me until the next song, and I sat with them at IHOP after. She never made me feel like she didn’t want me there in fact it was just the opposite. I’m thankful God allowed me to have these memories and this very special day with this amazing girl. Thank you Sydney Lisa Jeter for loving your momma so well. It was a gift to be included, a gift to be able to smile and laugh with you and a gift to do your hair and makeup. You looked beautiful as always!! My #missablekindofgirl

That smile!

. Getting to Know Sydney, Grief its Real, Play for Jeter . , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I didn’t take many pictures of her on the side of a soccer field so this is such a rare treasure to me, however I could have taken a million and it wouldn’t be enough. Her passion for the game was as beautiful as that smile! My #missablekindofgirl #PlayForJeter 

Reminders!

. Getting to Know Sydney . , , , , , ,

Sydney posted this 4 years ago early in the morning before we headed out for the beach. She wanted nothing more than to share Gods love with others and encourage the people around her. We have continued to go to the beach every year on this day. Its a trip that yes may be filled with some heartache but the memories and love that flood us are worth the pain. For the past 3 years Kristi’s boys have helped Cameron fill this day with adventure and fun. I’m still so thankful she posted this. It continues to encourage me and reminds me of how happy she was walking with God❤️