I am very proud of all of the officers and civilians who received awards at the Phoenix Police Department’s Annual Awards Ceremony last week!  Congratulations, Blue Family!

Real Heros.

We heard all kinds of stories about men and women saving lives, putting themselves in grave danger to protect the innocent and many suffering personal injury in order to save others from injury.

Courage

Honor

Sacrifice

Chaplain Bob Fesmire received the COPS Volunteer Excellence Award!  Congratulations, Bob!  You are such a great man of God doing an awesome job! My family has been greatly blessed by you.  Love you!

Davey received 3 awards as well including the Medal of Honor.

Very bittersweet.

It’s awesome to see Davey honored and remembered.  It’s great being surrounded by our Blue family as the account of his sacrifice is shared with all us.

But he’s not here.

He’ll never be here again.

That’s still hard to fathom.  I still don’t want to believe it.

As I move forward from May 18, 2016, it can often feel like I’m on a foggy road.  On that day, I took a quick left turn into darkness where the fog was very heavy and it was hard to see my next step.

Gradually, there have been more days where the fog lifts and the sun peaks out around the clouds.  It’s a good day……until somthing happens and the fog lowers again.

God talks to Joshua – and to me and to you – in Deuteronomy 31 –

Be strong.  Be courageous.

Do not be afraid.

God is with me.  He is also with you if you believe.

God will never leave us.

It’s a command and a promise.   Holding onto that promise helps me step out into the fog and it helps me enjoy the sunshine when it comes.  Knowing that God is with me helps me be confident that there are good things ahead.

New dreams.

New opportunities.

Making new memories.

And we will figure out how to do all of this without forgetting the sunshine of the past.

The sunshine that was Davey.

We are so blessed to have a large group of family and friends and, of course, our blue family who love us and are taking this journey with us.  Together, we are navigating the uncertainties of this dark road.  We are facing the fog and moving forward into the sunshine together.

It’s exactly what Davey would want us to do.

#8144loveyou

#fallenbutneverforgotten