Sunday Sanity 1/19/25

Hey Friends,

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday! We have returned to the deep freeze here in Ohio. According to the weather guessers, as my Dad called them, we will be there for several days. I will still rejoice and be glad because this is the day the Lord made.

Pastor E.J. Lamb provides with today's sanity. Mom and I attended service with our friends at the Anchor on Wednesday night. 

We sure do love Pastor E.J., Sis. Lacey, their children, and the Anchor of Hope church family! All of them have been special friends to us for a long time!

On Wednesday night, he preached on “ Faith Beyond Feelings.” The entire message was encouraging, but this little nugget stood out.

“Faith is not a walk in what I see and feel, but faith is walking in what I know”. Pastor E.J. Lamb

One thing I know God will always be with us, even when we can not see or  feel Him!

See you tomorrow. 

Odie

Happy Birthday Daddy 2025

 Hey Friends,

Thank you for dropping by for a visit! We have been in reflection mode this week. A couple of big days are here this week, back to back. 

January 15th, last year, Daddy came home from the hospital after the stroke. Click here to visit yesterday’s post

January 16th is my Dad’s birthday! Dad did not like a lot of attention on his birthday. He always wanted to make a big deal about mine or Mom’s, but not his! A blog post is just about all I could get by doing for him.

He does not get a choice this year! We are spending today honoring the great man I got to call Daddy!

Mom and I sat down and reflected on Dad’s last days on earth. He taught us to love God and His greatness always! Dad’s love for his Great God was evident until the end. 

Also, we included Dad singing If You Could See Me Now. This video was recorded as part of a church service at my house in April of 2020. We also played it at Dad’s celebration of life. Some people have requested to hear the song again. I figured his birthday was a great day to share it again.

I will close with a note for my Daddy. See you tomorrow. 

Happy birthday, Daddy! I love you, “More than a hog loves slop”! You will forever be my superhero! 

This is the first time in my lifetime that I could not celebrate your birthday with you in person. Over the years we have celebrated your birthday in a myriad of states and ways! You may not physically be here, but we are still marking this extra special date on the calendar. 

In a while we will enjoy a delicious dinner with several family members in your honor! I know there will be tears, laughter and lots of memories! I so wish you could be here with us! You are always dearly missed!

 Love Your Baby Girl, Odie!

Do I Trust You

 Hey Friends,

Kelly and Odie here. We hope you are having a great day. Our Waynesville, Ohio, beach cottage is currently covered in snow. Right now the snow is beautiful!  Mom took this picture late last night. 

We are grateful for the nice, warm home that keeps us snug! 

Today, we uploaded a new video to the Boggs Family Ministries YouTube channel. Click here to visit our channel. 

In this video, we give a small update and sing a favorite song of ours. We went way back to the archives for a song written by Twila Paris. 

Do I Trust You is an older song that has helped us through many rough spots. We have sang it around the piano since I was very young. Now, these lyrics bring us solace once more. 

We are grateful that we can trust the Lord in every part of life! He is definitely trustworthy. Even though things do not always go our desired direction, we Trust God!

Hopefully, you find encouragement to trust God in your cumstance too! I know He will be there for you as well!

Thanks for stopping by to visit with us! See you tomorrow. 

Odie

Sunday Sanity 1/5/2025

Hey Friends,

Welcome to the first Sunday Sanity of 2025. Thank you for joining us on this winter Sunday! 

I hope it is nice and toasty where you are located. The weatherman says ice and snow will be at the beach cottage in Waynesville, OH.

Today’s sanity comes from Pastor Brent Gabbard. Recently, he spoke about the middleman in the story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. 

Bro. Brent's take on the messenger, who brought the word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick, was something I had never thought about! The messenger was a significant Character in Lazarus’ story! 

Can you imagine? His faith must have been soaring after he talked to Jesus. Then he gets home to the news that Lazarus has passed away. The Master is too late, or so it seems. Now, the messenger must've felt defeat. Oh, if he only knew the story was not over yet!

We know the end of the story for Lazarus! We read of the celebration that happened when the Master raised him from the dead!

we believe it, because it's the Bible. 

In our lives we do not know the end of the story. It is impossible for us to see how our situation is going to turn out. Friend, let me remind you. It is not too late! The Master is on the way! I want to be the middleman that helps get the Master’s attention!

I will leave you today with a quote from Pastor Brent Gabbard. his words encouraged me, and I hope they do the same for you!

A message to intercessors…. 

“Hang onto your promise, even when it doesn’t make sense and circumstances seem to contradict it.”

Pastor Brent Gabbard

Have a great day. See you next time.

Odie

December 29th 2023 The Day Of The Stoke

 Hey Friends,

I wanted to reflect on a big day in our Boggs Family history. Yesterday the one year anniversary of a day that we will never forget. 

December 29 2023, Dad was suddenly hit with a brain stem stroke. He was loading the bus while in our barn. Uncle Steve was right by his side that day.

Dad suddenly started feeling bad, and within seconds, he was extremely dizzy and could not swallow anything at all. He was rushed to the hospital. He remained in the hospital and in rehab until January 15th 2023.

Mom and I are still so proud of Dad. He was a model patient and worked so hard to overcome his obstacles! He was determined to recover to the best of his ability! Dad was a witness for God, even in his sickness!

Our prayers for Dad's complete healing may not have been answered this side of Heaven, but we are so thankful for the 10 extra months that we had with Dad. we were able to love him and cherish him a little longer! The extra time was an amazing gift! The Lord did many miracles for us to make those months much better! God was merciful to us! 

We still thank God for his goodness to our family! God was our strength back then and he has not changed. He is still with us today!

I cannot say how much we miss having Dad with us every day! Life will never be the same!  We still rejoice in the fact that his suffering is no more! We will go forward by God's grace! One step at a time and one day at a time. 

At this point, we have made it seven weeks, which sometimes looked impossible. By God's grace, we are still standing. A lot of the future is still unknown to us, but we know that God is in control!

Thank you to all family and friends for your prayers and support! Many of you have helped us through another challenging time in our lives! 

I cannot thank everyone by name! I will name my dear Uncle Steve and Aunt Karen. They have been with us every step of the way! Thank you ever so much! I love you both with all my heart!

The BoggsMobile

On the day of the stroke, we were preparing to pull out in the BoggsMobile The plan was to be gone from our homeplace the first seven months of 2023. Things did not go according to our plan!

As you know, everything suddenly changed. We remained close to home for most of 2023. Thankfully, Dad was able to travel a little bit here and there and do one last big fall tour before God moved him home.

On December 29th, last year, we were going to leave home, the plan was to take the bus to Tennessee for maintenance. Jeff Rowe and his guys had worked on the bus for a few weeks in November and December, but needed it back to finish up some projects. Also trying to locate some long standing issues. The bus did not make it there that day.

My parents took the bus to Jeff for some maintenance this summer. He kept us rolling for our final fall tour. The bus did arrive at Jeff shop on December 29, 2024, that's just one year later than originally planned. A driver went to Kansas and picked it up on Saturday. He drove it back to Tennessee and arrived safely Sunday  evening. 

Now Mom  and I will go to Tennessee later this week with some of our family. We need to get our belongings and say goodbye to the BoggsMobile. 

Please keep us in your prayers! We value each and every prayer that is prayed or has been prayed for us! We feel the strength that comes from your prayers! thank you for the text, email and calls of people checking on us. I apologize if I am unable to answer or respond to all of them. We do read the message and listen to the voicemail!

See you tomorrow. 

Odie

Sunday Sanity 12/29/24

 Hey Friends,

Well, we have reached the end of 2024. Let's have one more Sunday Sanity.

Bro. Andrew Blevins is preaching Christmas revival at Dryden Road Pentecostal Church this week. His preaching has spoke to my soul!

Friday he preached on “Praying Like A Prophet. “Here is one of the statements Bro. Andrew made that night that stuck out to me, and I thought it would make a great Sunday Sanity. 

“You may not be wise like a prophet, bold as a prophet but you can get ahold of God like a prophet!”

Andrew Blevins

Thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow!

Odie

Davy's Last Post

Hey Friends,

Thank you for joining us for a special post. Here is the back story to this post that Dad wrote. 

Every time Dad took a trip overseas. He would write and schedule “Davy’s Last Post”. Just in case something tragic happened on the trip. He would always alert me and give me strict orders DO NOT hit publish by accident on the the post. Upon his safe arrival back to the states I ALWAYS reminded him to unschedule the post.

This particular version was written before his last trip to Nigeria in 2023. The trip went smoothly. My parents arrived back in the States shortly before Christmas. This was originally scheduled to post on 12/20/23. I had to remind him not to let the post publish last year, I think the day before the scheduled date. 

We were blessed with a phenomenal Christmas! December 29th Dad had the stroke! God blessed us with a little over 10 more months with Daddy! Mom and I are so grateful!

I found this in draft form a few days ago. I could not believe it was still saved! It took me a few days before I could read it fully Then I took it to Mom for her to see. 

Here we are a year later. Heaven is now his reality. We still can not wrap our minds around this fact.  Oddly we found comfort in reading Davy’s Last Post. Mom wanted me to share it here. All of the black font below is Dad’s personal unedited writing. 

I am scheduling this post for December 20. We should have made it home from our little jaunt days ago. If this is posting, then for some reason or another, we might not have made it home safely. We could be in some type of trouble and need God to help us. If that is the case then, Odie will probably post more information and let you know how you can pray.

__________________

Also, this post going live might mean we are in Heaven right now. Wouldn't that be awesome? Well if we are in Heaven then I assure you, it is awesome!

I want to encourage everyone to prepare to meet God. God has given you the plan of salvation in the Bible. Read it, search the scriptures, get on your knees and confess your sin. God will forgive you. He will cleanse you from all sin. He will totally and radically change your life. You will be a brand new creature in Christ. 

You can begin here.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Keep reading. Go ahead, God loves you enough to send His only begotten son to die for you. Do you think that merits some investigation and trust on your part? I believe it does.

Thanks

To all of our friends and fellow saints. Thanks for being there for the Boggs Family. Thanks for not throwing us away. Thanks for loving us to the extreme. Keep living for God. I promise you it is worth it all!

Thanks to the Boggs, the Morgans and all of our great big extended family. We love each and every one of you. Live for God. Do not blame God. He knows exactly what He is doing. "Blessed is he whosoever is not offended in me." You may not understand God, but that is OK. Serve Him with all of your heart anyway. I may not know what God is doing, but I do know that God is doing!

Dad, Mom, Danny and Betty. You all have loved us when you did not understand us. You have accepted our passion for Christ and for souls. Your encouragement has emboldened us to spend our lives in pursuit of God and winning others to God through Christ. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We love you fiercely.

God bless you, Pastor Bennie Sutherland and all the saints that worship at Dryden Rd. Pentecostal Church. You loved us enough to keep us and we never forgot it. Neither will God.

Brothers Riddell, Woods, Winkler, Searcy, McCrorey, Eaton, Landress, Rowe, Whiffen, Burris, Williamson, Gautreaux, Metzger, DiZazzo, K.Morris, S.Morris, Stringfellow, Harris, Fellers, Millikin, Radcliffe, Webster, Allen, J.Gabbard, B.Gabbard, Hicks, M. Boggs, B. Mayhan, D. Webb, my brother Steve and many more! Wow, you all have helped me and my family. I made it because you loved and loved deeply. God bless you, brothers. I needed you and you were there for me.

To all of the preachers and churches that have invited us to your churches for services and revivals. God bless you for being such a blessing to us. It has been an incredible ride. I can not imagine working with better folks. Thank you for being incredibly kind to our family.

_______________

Kelly Jo and Odie could have had a better husband and father but I have had the best. We have had a great life.

Odie, we love you better than a hog loves slop.

You have been a joy to us. We could not have asked for a more Godly, dedicated, loyal, sweet and loving daughter. I have confidence that you will continue to serve God with all your heart and that you will not live in grief or allow sorrow to define you or consume you. You will remember why we were living on earth in the first place. We were never here to stay. We were only pilgrims and strangers. Now we are home. You will join us in God's time.

I am sure that many folks will line up to take care of your every need, Odie. God will see to that because He is ultimately in charge of your care. I am thankful you have a home to live in. The house is a timely and wonderful miracle. Praise God for that! Keep the faith, Odie!

OK, that's enough. It has been a fun ride and Heaven is worth the journey. 

Davy

Praise God for His love and grace to me!

Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

If Dad only knew how loved and appreciated he really was! He would be blown away by the outpouring of love and support people have blessed us with! 

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Odie and Kelly Jo. 

God Won’t

 Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking for this Wednesday. Thanks for visiting with me. I may not have A Word For Wednesday video to post. I wish so much that I had a profound devotion from Dad!

I do have song lyrics on my heart today. These are phenomenal words penned by Jimmy Yeary and Sue C. Smith. 

This song was recorded by the Nelons before the tragedy that happened in their family this summer. It was realesed on their new project a few months ago. 

From the first time I listened to the project God Won't is my favorite track from the album. It is a timely song. 

Click the video below to hear this great song. I shared the lyrics below the video. Friend, hold on to this reminder. 

God Won’t

Sue C. Smith and Jimmy Yeary

Verse 1

People can look 

At where you come from 

Mistakes that you’ve made 

The damage you’ve done 

Count every wrong 

And decide that you’ve gone to far

Verse 2

Yeah people are good 

At being judge and the jury 

They’ll hand down a verdict 

Of guilty in a hurry 

Not one ounce of grace 

They’ll just walk away 

Chorus

But God won’t 

He ain’t a leaver

He’s a call out His name

And you know that

He’ll be there 

The world can say that 

You’re on your own

Your last friend 

Can leave you alone 

But God won’t 

Verse 3

No God won’t fail

And God won’t quit 

He can handle the fire

He’ll walk right through it

Let ‘them all turn their backs 

But just know that

Chorus

God won’t 

He ain’t a leaver

He’s a call out His name

And you know that

 He’ll be there 

The world can say that 

You’re on your own

Your last friend 

Can leave you alone 

But God won’t 

Bridge 

If you feel like His love 

Is to good to be true 

And He’s already given up on you 

Chorus 

But God won’t 

He ain’t a leaver

He’s a call out His name

And you know that

 He’ll be there 

The world can say that 

You’re on your own

Your last friend 

Can leave you alone

Tag 

But God won’t 

He ain’t a leaver

He’s a call out His name

And you know that

 He’ll be there 

Friends can leave you alone 

But God won’t   

Mom and have a tremendous group of family and friends that are helping us daily. I am amazed every day, when I see the help the Lord sends our way. Thank you each person that prays for us! We absolutely not alone. 

I am so thankful that God Won't leave us! We can face life because He is alway there! I am clinging to Him!

See you next time. 

Odie

Tribute to Davy Boggs By Sis. Andrea Hammond

Hey Friends,

Several people have shared great tributes to my Dad that have been posted online. Mom and I love seeing the impact Dad left on so many lives. He had no idea how many people he truly touched.

I plan to periodically share some of the tributes here, too. Today, I am sharing a post by Sis. Andrea Hammond from November 10th 2024. 

Mom and I were moved to tears when we read this story. God is amazing, and Dad loved to be a vessel God could use. He was a cheerful giver!

Andrea, thank you for remembering this moment. Thanks for your friendship and prayers!

Odie

“ Bro Davy Boggs' obedience to God built my faith in a monumental way!!

It was the summer of 2009, I was working trying to save money to get back to Bible School, and the Boggs came to preach a revival at the church I was interning at that summer, I felt impressed to give $100 in the offering, at the time it seemed like quite a sacrifice.

Two years later I was discouraged heading into a service at Bible Holiness, because I was supposed to go on choir tour that weekend and I literally had not a penny to my name. The Boggs unexpectedly showed up that night and Bro Taylor had him preach, they sang "Faith gives me Hope" After church that night he walked up to me, shook my hand and left the exact amount of money in it that I'd given in that revival!

I knew God was teaching me something about Faith and I've never forgotten it!

Praying tonight for his sweet family!!!”

Andrea Hammond

Tribute to Davy from David Riddell

Hey Friends,

Odie here reporting again from Kettering Hospital. Thank you for your continued prayers! 

Sunday morning I had a rough spell. I opted to stay in the hospital one more night. Now the plan is to go home on Monday. Thankfully I have not had anymore spells. The staff here has taken great care of me. 

Today I have something special to share with you. One of our dearest friends David Riddell shared this heartfelt tribute to my Dad online. It so moved mom and I, and we are sharing it here with David’s permission.

Please read the great words listed below. 

Odie

Tribute to Davy from David Riddell 

He was my longest best friend. We were 17/16 years old when we met, and we became immediate best friends. Cousins that somehow had not met until then, but it was a God thing. We held our first revival together at the Stubbs Mill church; he preached one night and I the next. Even though we were young and competitive by nature, ministry was never competitive between us. We were teammates. We studied together, prayed together, and in those days, you rarely saw one without the other. We just had that brotherly connection, where we even thought alike. I'll never forget when I found the most awesome-looking green pants at Kaufman's in Lebanon, and I walked into church that night thinking that I was looking good only to find him wearing the same pants. Someone asked us that night if those pants came with a dimmer switch.

When he was blessed to find Kelly, I became the most loved third wheel in all of history. She was never my best friend's wife; she just became my best friend too. And when Odie came along, she just became my little sister, since they both were helping raise me.

He had a faith that I always admired, probably because I didn't personally have it. I fell away from God in my early 20's, and it was in his study, where I was spewing my newfound religion of secular humanism and psychological babble, where he simply said, David, God is married to the backslider.

 Those simple words from my dear friend, anointed by the Holy Ghost, broke me completely. Before I even knew what I was doing, I had fallen on my knees and was sobbing, begging for God to forgive me, and He did. There's only one other human who knew how truly frail and weak I am because he became my most trusted confessor. He never cut me any slack; that's why I went to him, but he always spoke to me with love. I will miss that. The last time I was with him, he said, "Man David, you don't need anyone to beat you; you have that covered yourself."

I hate how the cruelty of life separated us after our youth, but I always knew that you were there, but this cruel death is almost unbearable. I never expected him to outrun me to the gates of Heaven, never expected that he would see my daddy again before me, never expected to have to live in a world without you in it, but here we are, me still down here, you over there, my heart broken, yours full of joy, my eyes unable to stop weeping, yours never to shed another tear. I never expected, but l probably should have; you were always the better man. You deserved a better friend in me, and I never had a better friend in you.

Goodbye my dear friend, what time I have left, you will never be forgotten, never be unloved, and your impact on my life never unfelt.

 David Riddell

Gods Glory and Handiwork On Display

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in on this first Saturday of the month. I am thrilled you stopped by to visit today. 

Here is a friendly reminder that may make your day better. For most of us, our clocks fall back by one hour! Tonight is a wonderful night for those of us who value our sleep. I plan to enjoy every possible second of sleep tonight!

Can you believe the Holiday season is approaching? 2024 is speeding by in a flash. November causes my mind to turn to Thanksgiving. 

I have often said I strive to be thankful on a daily basis. November’s Thanksgiving season is an extra reminder to be thankful for all things. 

Today, I am thankful for the magnificent creation. God created too many amazing things to name them all. 

 

I love looking up at the sky. The beauty of the skies baffles my little human mind. I enjoy seeing the world from 30,000 feet in the air. 

On a recent flight, I was reminded of the awesomeness of our creator God! I was humbled that I get to experience His magnificent creation. I snapped this picture while flying above the clouds. 

The photograph reminded me of a verse of scripture. Psalm 19:1 says it like this. 

“The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

I love seeing the Heavens declare His handiwork! Each flight I take I am left in awe of God! It is hard for me to believe people can doubt that God is real. Sights like the one above amaze me. I hope you enjoy the beauty too!

God, thank you for allowing me to experience and explore your world! I am thankful to be a tiny part of it!

Thank you for reading! See you next time.

Odie

A Year of Contrasts

The last ten months have been quite a ride. It was ten months Tuesday since I suffered a brainstem stroke as my brother and I were loading the bus so we could leave for our first revival of 2024. 

December 29, 2023 to October 29, 2024.

It has been a year of contrasts.

There are moments when it seems like years have passed since the moment of the stroke. 

Most of the time it seems like it was yesterday.

The last ten months have been the most physically challenging I have ever experienced. 

But each week has been spiritually new and God's presence has been so near every step.

KJo and I have felt alone some days like we were adrift through the far reaches of the universe. 

Yet we have never been more loved by people and churches in our entire lives. There have been other challenging times when we were much more alone in our despair, but not this year. We have been encouraged, uplifted and physically and spiritually carried undeniably and miraculously.

For eight solid months I was completely content to be at home, preaching weekends and concentrating on healing (Those of you who know me, know that is a miracle)

We have been on the road preaching revivals for two months and it has simultaneously been the most difficult thing I have ever done and the most joyous thing I have ever experienced.

Each time I stand to preach I know that I am going to expend 100% of my stored energy and I am going to feel like mud when I am finished.

But I know I am about to step into God's presence and the joy of being an instrument of revival in a church and in someone's life will be more than worth the physical revenge my body will extract from me.

And the year of contrasts goes on and on, but you get the idea. The path has been challenging, but God has blessed it all. I can live with that.

Thank you for stopping in.

Davy

Another Year Living In The Goodness Of God

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in from Oklahoma again this week. I have so enjoyed being with many wonderful friends.

This weekend, we are singing at the fellowship meeting at Bethany Holiness Church. It is always a pleasure to be with Pastor Darrell Toliver and the Bethany church family!

Monday marked the beginning of another year in my life. My family and friends overwhelmed me with love and kindness and made my birthday extra special. My birthday was definitely a happy one in 2024. 

The Lord has abundantly blessed me. For the last couple of years, my testimony song has been The Goodness of God. I have lived the words of this song all of my life. Every time I hear this song, it moves me to tears, thinking of the bountiful blessings that God has poured out upon my life. I would not be here without His goodness to me!

I have featured the song Goodness Of God in a previous post. My favorite group, The Isaacs, recently released the song too. Now I have a new favorite version! Today was a great day to feature The Isaacs singing my testimony.

Goodness Of God is available now, and a full worship project from the Isaacs releases next week. I am so excited to have new music from the Isaacs!

I hope you enjoyed the song too! My prayer is for all of us to remember God’s amazing goodness in our lives! Let us pause for a moment and praise God one more time!

Thanks for joining me today! I will see you next time. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Odie

Remembering 9/11

I am posting this in memory of September 11, 2001. I wrote this last year as a compilation of tributes I have written over a number of years. I think it is still appropriate today, 

This will be the first post today and there will be a second post at noon with pictures from the camp meeting last night.

Remembering 9/11

Nearly 3000 people died on American soil on September 11, 2001 because religious nuts hated America, hated capitalism, hated our system of government, hated anyone that did not serve their god and tried their best to destroy us.
 
It must be said loudly that most followers of that same religion did not, do not want to kill Americans or destroy Americans. But it must be said just as loudly that these men killed Americans in the name of their religion.
 
3000 lives ended in a moment. 23 years later and people are still grieving, still hurting, still crying and still trying to live on. 
 
Many in the world would like us to forget.
 
Many in the press would like for us to forget.
 
Many in the government would like for us to forget.
 
But we must never forget.
 
Families were forever changed and scarred. 
 
Parents lost children. 

Children lost parents.
 
Spouses lost companions. 
 
Friends were separated forever. 
 
Many businesses lost key employees. 
 
New York City Fire Department lost 343 firefighters. 
 
New York City Police Department lost 23 officers. 
 
New York City Port Authority lost 37 officers. 
 
Over 3200 children lost at least one parent.
 
How could we ever forget?
 
We must never forget. We must never omit the details. We must never sidestep the truth to avoid hurting a snowflake's feelings. Those 19 hijackers and the men who sent them did not care for the feelings of thousands they hoped to kill.
 
We must know. We must learn. We must remember. We must care. We must remain vigilant. We must never forget.
 
September 11, 2001 made me want to pull people I love closer and let them know how much I care for them. It still does. Nearly 3000 people lost their lives in NYC, Washington DC and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The more I read the stories of victims and survivors and heroes, the more I value life at its very core.
 
Life is valuable. Life is fleeting. Life is too short to waste on ourselves. God help me to remember.
 
We visited the 9/11 Museum and Memorial in August 2014 and 2016. These two visits had a sobering impact on our family. We were seeing many of the film clips and pictures for the very first time. I have described it as an emotional punch in the gut.
 
The hours we spent there were some of the most sobering, severe and significant hours in my life. It is a place that haunts not only my sleep, but often even my waking hours. It may seem cliche but I assure you it is not, 9/11 changed our lives forever, even those of us that were thousands of miles removed from the destruction.
 
In the museum, I came to the slow realization that we are not talking about a group of 3000 random people being tragically killed, which is heartbreaking in itself, but we are talking about 3000 individuals, all with families, hopes, dreams, ambitions and plans.
 
The personal cost, the personal hurta nd the personal tragedies are completely overwhelming when standing on their own. To hear their voices, to see their pictures, to watch video clips of them with their families, to hear their loved ones talk about them is powerfully poignant. When you put it all together in one event and attempt to add up all the loss of real, living, breathing humanity, it is unfathomable!
 
Consider just one personal story we learned there. It is the story of Captain Terrance S. Hatton the commander of Rescue 1 in Manhattan. Captain Terry Hatton was killed in the north tower when it fell. 
 
His wife, Beth Petrone Hatton was the Executive Assistant to Mayor Rudy Giuliani. She was standing on the steps of City Hall as the World Trade Center collapsed. She knew exactly where her husband was at that moment.
 
Captain Hatton was a man of duty. He was 41 years old and had served the NYFD for 21 years. In those 21 years he had earned 19 medals for bravery including the highest award in the city, the Medal of Honor. He was considered by those who served with him as one of the best.
 
Beth Petrone knew all that. She knew her honorable husband would be on the highest accessible floor conducting rescue operations. That was his job and he did it well.
 
As she watched the tower fall, she instantly knew he was dead. The dust engulfed City Hall and Beth found herself holding handfuls of the debris thinking she was somehow holding her husband.
 
They found Captain Terry Hatton's remains two weeks later and buried him in the fashion of the hero he was. By then, Beth Petrone Hatton had learned she was expecting their first child.
 
Terri Elizabeth Hatton was born in May of 2002. She is a beautiful young lady now and she will never know her heroic father except for stories. He will never hold her. He will never tuck her into bed. He will never read to her. He will never walk her down the aisle. He is gone. Beth lost her husband and little Terri lost her Daddy, simply because he went to work that morning.

That is the story of only one man that died and it does not even include the hurt of his parents, his siblings, his other relatives, his friends or the men he worked with and all the rest he left behind.

Multiply that one story by 3000 plus stories and you have not even begun to scratch the surface of why we should never forget!

Maybe you will enjoy your family today. Maybe you will go to church and worship. Maybe you must concentrate today on walking through your own personal hardships or even tragedy. Wherever you are and whatever stage in life you are in, please take a moment to think about all that were lost on September 11, 2001. 

Take a moment to remember. Take a moment to consider what might have been. Take a moment to pray for Terri Elizabeth Hatton and many, many of thousands of others that are moving forward and trying to overcome each day.

I believe we owe them that much.

Thank you.

Davy Boggs