Tag Archives: Legacy of a lifetime

mdjeter's avatar

12 yrs seems impossible

. Grief its Real . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

12 years seems impossible but yet I’ve felt every second of everyday. You just don’t get to ignore seconds filled with heartache and there is nothing that can change it, or take it away.  How I respond is up to me. I can sit in the depths of it, allow it to press so hard on my heart that I feel it physically and it literally hurts to breathe. I can allow my mind to focus on the loss and devastation thinking only about what was taken, and what I lost. After 12 years I can only imagine where she would be and what she would be doing. The milestones I’ve watched Cameron accomplish that she never got the opportunity to. The milestones her friends have made, real jobs, engagement, marriage, having babies,  oh how easy it would be to just focus on how brutal and unfair life is.  I’m not going to lie..every grieving parents goes to those places and probably even each day. It’s impossible not to, but I have chosen to lean into God  and focus on Jesus trying my best to live my life from his example. When it was hard for him he prayed and continued carrying his cross for the greater good, his greater good was the gift that allows me to focus on something positive. The fact that Sydney isn’t lost, because of Jesus 12 years ago she was given the most beautiful gift beginning her eternal life with God in heaven. What I’ve experienced the last twelve years and every year still to come isn’t permanent, it’s temporary, because as David said in the scriptures about his sweet baby “I will go to him but he will not return to me”.  I have chosen my focus to be on the only true healing for a grieving parent. God his love, his peace, and his promises. I chose to focus on the future and build on what will be permanent and eternal. I want to make sure that “when I go to her” I have left this world remembering the amazing gift her life is, what she wanted to be remember for (a disciple of Jesus), and that she not only wanted you to know him as well but in her own writings..she says it is worth giving up everything for God. As I sit knowing Sydney is in heaven I can’t help but think how true her words are..everything this world has to offer that we can give up is NOTHING compared to eternity with God and all those that loved God. 

mdjeter's avatar

12th Annual Play for Jeter Memorial Game

. Play for Jeter . , , , , ,

There is no greater gift then to know your child’s memory and legacy continue to impact and touch lives. This year I had a player tell me that “Jeter’s” story affected their family so much that they changed the way their family lived. They try to never leave the house without saying I love you and giving each other hugs. They do not go to bed or leave the house mad at each other. I couldn’t help but think that is what Sydney would have wanted. My hope is always when I speak to the team to allow them to get to know “Jeter” and pass on a little bit of her passion for the game and love of others. As always thank you to our friends and family who show up each year to help support her teammates as they remember and Play for Jeter.

mdjeter's avatar

11th Annual Play for Jeter Memorial Game

. Play for Jeter . , , , , , , ,

11th Annual Memorial Game
This Friday The Lady Tigers played their 11th Memorial game in honor and memory of Jeter. As I sit and pray and think about speaking to the girls. One thought is ever so present.. LIVE the life you want to be remembered for. I’m still amazed that 11 years later coaches and players that never knew her continues to step up and want to carry her memory, heart, and the passion she had for soccer. I don’t think that is because she showed up to practice and thought about being the best player, it wasn’t because she showed up and was the best player. It was simply because she showed up and soaked up every moment she was given in a way that others couldn’t deny her passion and love for the game and her team. She never walked on the field and disappeared or did just enough. She LIVED and loved every moment she was given in life. I miss everything about her but specifically I miss that spunk, that determination, that passion and of course that pony tale we placed high on her head that made it easy to recognize her. She even got teased for that pony tale but that never once stopped her from wearing it..instead she wanted to put it higher. It was her and to this day when anyone that watched her thinks of Sydney and soccer I bet you they remember her passion that poured out of her in such high volumes and her pony tale 🩷.
I just can’t help but think my message is that you won’t be remembered for what you want to be remembered for. You won’t be remembered for what you think you will be remembered for. You will be remembered for the LIFE you chose to LIVE even if you don’t realize that is what’s happening. Sydney Lisa Jeter wouldn’t have thought she would continue to be remembered and honored long after her original teammates were gone, but she is because of the LIFE she LIVED while she was here playing the game she loved so much. I’ll end with this..What do you want your legacy to be when you’re gone? Don’t just think about it..LIVE IT

#missablekindofgirl #playforjeter

mdjeter's avatar

10 years of Play For Jeter Annual Memorial Game

. Play for Jeter . , , , ,

Tonight the Lady Tigers will play the 10th Annual Sydney Lisa Jeter Memorial #playforjeter game. I can’t help but wish the current team could have known and played with Jeter. Her passion and love for the game was felt by anyone who played with her, coached her or watched her. Once a teammate always a teammate. Thank you to The A&M Consolidated Lady Tiger Soccer Program for continuing to bless our family and JETER’s legacy. Forever and always my #missablekindofgirl

mdjeter's avatar

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🙏🏻

mdjeter's avatar

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

mdjeter's avatar

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

mdjeter's avatar

Some more of our story

. Grief its Real . , , , , , , , , ,

I love when I hear a song that just touches my soul because the words connect with my journey. This song does just that. I know many think my need or desire for Jesus started after the accident but He was SO VERY present in every part of the previous 3 months. The words “every minute, every moment of where I’ve been and where I’m going, even when I didn’t know it and couldn’t see it” just seem to explain so many parts of our journey Jesus had been in our lives prior. Before soccer moved to Sundays we spent a lot of time in church and Sydney Lisa Jeter spent many years in Awanas memorizing scripture, went to vacation bible school, and loved to go to youth group. In all that, something had still been missing but In the moments of those last 3 months I knew something was different. The intensity was tangible. I knew he was working, I could feel him. I saw him in Sydney’s smile. It literally changed everything about her when she began to understand God’s love for her. She was free of the burdens of rejection and imperfection. She radiated with a light that’s unexplainable. I’m blessed to know that radiant light, was also witness by Stacy and a few others. Right in the middle of our brokenness, in the middle of my mistakes as a mother, in the middle of our living room, at the kitchen counter, in her closet, and even at the end of her last breathe here..THERE WAS JESUS. I knew then, that it was real but looking back now these words describe it best..THERE WAS JESUS.. we were the ones in need of an amazing kinda grace, forgiveness and a price we couldn’t pay..In the middle of it all was Gods beautiful faithfulness. I wish I could touch people and allow them to see and experience all I experienced, but all I have is words that I can write for you, her words that I can share and my prayers that no one ever doubt, that even when you can’t see him in those moments, he is there. If you ever wonder, if you ever need to hear a testimony that is too big for a post..look through Sydney’s website, message me, call me, I’d love to share Jesus with you.