Shawn Earl Kelley 1969-2011

Many of you have heard the sad news…

My housemate died in the hospital yesterday afternoon. Without going into too much detail, he was being treated for respiratory problems, and stopped taking the steroids when he couldn’t keep food down. We think this kicked his systems into a spiral and took him to the hospital. We left the house at noon, and he passed away by 2:10 in the hospital.

We shared many kind words at the service about his servant heart, the challenges he overcame, and the conviction with which he served his Lord. He was no public speaker or linguist, but somehow, through the Spirit, he had a way of communicating with his heart through language barriers. Being one of the last people to see him alive, I can say he was optimistic till the end of his time here. We will all miss him. Now his faith has become sight. Love you, Shawn!

Back in black

Hello everyone. Last week, I was sick. Somehow, back pain from my bad posture and computer habits doubled up with a stomach bug to keep me home for a few days. We decided that this bug only affected the guys in the house, and that each person got a surprise symptom. Gord got sinus problems, and Jordan was vomiting. Anyways, this theory was thrown out when Jessica got sick..oh well. We had one person sick every 2 days until it had run through most of the house. The sickness isn’t really the point of this post. The post is about what happened through it.

Many of you know about how I really burned out senior year. Before senior year, my nickname at nerd camp (internalDrive Tech Camps) was “Happy Dog” because of my always-excited puppy personality. I would amuse myself just talking and get into giggles. The next year when I went back, I was emotionally and mentally exhausted, and lacked most of my old endless enthusiasm. Looking back at videos from the 2 years…there’s an obvious lack. Now, I’m not saying I’m not functional…but there was a part of my personality long-missing that I didn’t expect to get back…my wandering and overactive imagination.

For 48 hours of being sick, I barely moved. Maybe I had a fever, but my imagination went into overdrive…almost to the point of hallucination, but I could still determine what was real. Starships were flying around my back, I was imagining things and people…it was actually quite cool. Once my digestive system was sorted out and my back straightened out….the imagination stayed like a welcome guest…restored to it’s place in my life.

I’m back to getting the giggles, bad puns, and other things. Praise the Lord! This has been an incredible answered prayer.