Matthew 6

Matthew 6:19-21

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and ruse destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.”

This bible verse was a part of the final blog entry posted by The Van Ryn Family. The Van Ryn went through a great deal of sorrow and grief. They found out their “daughter” was in a car accident and was in intensive care. They stood by her side day in and day out, watching her progression, encouraging her, loving her, and taking care of her. When they found out that the girl is the hospital was not actually their daughter Laura, they were heartbroken another time. They had to find out about their daughter in a severe car crash, worry about that mess and continuous praying, and then they found out their daughter had actually died in the car accident, five weeks earlier and was already buried in the ground as another person. Both families went through more tragedy than any families should have to go through. However, neither family let this tragedy get in their minds and corrupt their relationships with Jesus Christ. Both the Cerak’s and the Van Ryn’s stayed strong in their faith and never lost hope that God had a plan for their daughters’ lives. He knew what was going to happen at the accident and He knew that the two families would grow closer to him because of it. It just goes to show that the stronger your faith is, the more challenges you face, but not without the powerful help of our Lord Almighty. 

Pretty Little Liars

The book, Mistaken Identity, relates very well to my favorite TV show: Pretty Little Liars. In the show Pretty Little Liars there are five best friends: Alison, Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily. The friends are inseparable, until the last night of summer before junior year. On that night the girls had a sleepover; they drank a little and just had a good time bringing in the new school year. The next morning, Ali was nowhere to be found. They searched all over, but she was missing. A year later on Labor Day weekend, there was a discovery in the DiLaurentos’ back yard: a body buried in the spot they were going to build a gazebo. The body was later identified as Alison DiLaurentis. After the funeral, the four girls remaining got an anonymous text from “A” who the girls believed to be Ali. Recently in the show, we found out that Alison is in fact alive! She had been hiding for the past year from someone who just would not leave her alone. The girls have so many secrets that they thought went to the grave with Ali, but it turns out, someone else knows all their dirty little secrets. They have no choice but to lie in order to get out of some sticky situations. Once they find that Ali is alive, but still needs to be in hiding they promise to help her in any way possible. But the question remains for the four girls, who did they bury in Ali’s grave? 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not preceded from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

This quote in 1 Thessalonians shows us that we need to trust that those who die here on earth, who know the Lord, will not perish, but will receive life everlasting. Whitney’s grandma could not come to the burial or ceremony because Colleen, Whitney’s mother, forgot to pick her up. However, she was in no way angry to miss the service because she knows that the girl in the coffin was not Whitney. She did not know that the girl’s body actually belonged to Laura Van Ryn, but she meant that Whitney’s soul was already released from her body and was in heaven with the Father. 

Cady

The book, Mistaken Identity, relates to my life in a way that isn't so obvious. Growing up, I went to the same church and had lots of friends I grew up with. One of those friends was Cady Reed. Cady and I went to church together since we were born and our families have been friends since before then. When we got a little older her family stopped coming to our church and went to another, but we still saw each other occasionally and we kept in touch. In middle school, she was in eighth grade and cheered and I was in sixth grade, not quite old enough for middle school cheerleading. In high school, we cheered together my freshman year and sophomore year and she was the heart of our team. She had the best personality and was always cracking jokes and laughing her crazy obnoxious laugh that so many people knew. My sophomore year we got even closer when she made me do powerlifting with her. We complained a heck of a lot more than we lifted, but it was the most fun I ever had doing a sport. She would always be hungry for Bob Evans so she would take me after practice. I loved hanging out with her and regret not doing that more. Our time together as friends was cut short when Cady was tragically killed in a car accident the winter of my junior year, seven months after she graduated high school. Hearing the news was the hardest thing I’ve ever heard and I wouldn’t wish that feeling upon anyone. I’ve gotten better at hiding the way I feel, but it’s always so hard to do anything without missing her. I know she is watching over me but it doesn’t make the reality of it any easier. As you can see, I relate with the friends and family of the five students who didn’t survive the car accident. I can’t say I know how they feel, because everyone feels different after losing a loved one, but I can  definitely say I’ve been there. 

Hebrews 11:17, 19

“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice…Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” Hebrews 11:17, 19

This quote was all that Whitney’s sister Carly would think about on her drive down to Grand Rapids. She could only imagine that the girl in the hospital was actually her sister. She didn’t want to believe that she could actually be alive after five weeks of thinking she was dead. Her family had mourned and moved on and had come to the realization that their little girl was gone and they would never see her again until they went to heaven. However, when they got to the hospital in Grand Rapids, as soon as they saw Whitney they were in shock, but had great joy knowing their daughter was alive. It was as if God was testing them and figuratively raised Whitney from the dead. It was more than just a miracle; it was a disaster at the same time. The Cerak family received great joy when they found out Whitney, who they believed to have buried five weeks earlier, was actually alive in a hospital in Grand Rapids. However, the Van Ryn family went through heartbreak and devastation finding out that their daughter Laura, who they believed to be alive and getting better every day, was actually buried five weeks earlier under a different identity. Even though both families are going through a difficult time with the discovery of their daughters being someone else in a way, they are fully relying on God and their relationship with Christ. They are faithful and fully trusting that his will be done no matter what. 

Book Review

The book, Mistaken Identity, is a true story about two girls who were involved in a serious car accident, and two families who went through heartbreak over and over. Laura and Whitney went to the same college and were both on their way to a school function while in separate vehicles when the accident happened. Among the two vehicles involved in the crash, five people lost their lives, including Whitney and a friend Brad. Laura, however, was fifty feet from the car and the investigators had to use the contents of her purse that was beside her to identify her. She was in a serious coma for five weeks. Whitney’s family said their goodbyes to their beloved daughter and started to move on, while Laura’s family stayed right by her side throughout her progression to get better. After a long 5 weeks, “Laura” wakes up enough each day and progresses enough to write her name down. However, she doesn’t write the name everyone expected; she writes “Whitney”. At first everyone just assumes it was because her brain was still not completely healed, but after must persistence from Laura that those were “false parents” the hospital decided to check with dental records. When Laura’s records didn’t match the girl in the room, the investigators got ahold of Whitney’s family and asked them to bring her dental records to the hospital. They couldn’t imagine why anyone would have or could have miss identified the girls five weeks earlier, but God works in mysterious ways and they learned to trust in Him even more with the most difficult of situations.