Last week I installed a new social media app called Timehop that recalls what I tweeted or posted on Facebook that day in the previous 4 years. Every morning it sends me a snapshot. Some of them make me laugh and some of them make me sad, depending on the memories it sends me.

I didn’t need Timehop to remind me what happened on September 27th last year. I think this is a date that will haunt my family for a long time.

I remember clearly being at dance practice at BCM, learning a dance to Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave. As usual, I forgot to turn my phone on silent and it was whistling repeatedly while we were dancing. After a few missed phone calls, I decided it was time to excuse myself from rehearsal. I remember feeling nervous when I saw that all the messages and calls were from family members and Alison – a sure sign that something was wrong. I remember a wave of nausea hitting me when I read the group texts about my Uncle Eddie having a heart attack while hauling hay. I vaguely recall running out of practice without giving an explanation, but I’ll never forget arriving at Rockdale Hospital an hour later, seeing the waiting room overflowing with friends and family, band and church members. I can never shake the feeling of standing in the room with Eddie, saying goodbye a little too late.

But what I had forgotten, and what Timehop reminded me of this morning, was everything that happened before that dance practice. Which is understandable, because it seems like it was a pretty standard day.

It’s amazing how much can change over the course of one day. It was pretty obvious that when I was tweeting about yoga at 6:30 that morning that I did not expect the day to be anything special. And I’m sure that I wouldn’t have been asking someone to raise my blood pressure if I knew the stress that was in fact waiting around the corner.

We don’t know what’s waiting for us when we wake up in the morning, and we can’t foresee all the hills and valleys that a year will bring. We don’t need an iPhone app to tell us that. I’m only 21 years old and already I’ve seen years bring a myriad of unforeseen changes.

What I do love about today’s Timehop is that, while there is no tweeted record of everything that happened between 3:02pm and 10:33pm – I don’t need one – it reminds me to wake up counting my blessings and go to sleep counting my blessings, no matter what takes place in between.

September 27th is a day that will haunt us for a long time, but it is also a day that we will celebrate for a long time because of the blessings we received through Eddie’s life and the ones who have taken care of us since he left.

This morning I woke up blessing the Lord, and I pray that no matter what happens before then, I will go to bed tonight doing the same.

The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtwIT8JjddM&w=560&h=315]