Mandy Kelly was a special blogger and sister in Christ that I didn’t get to know as well as I wish I would have. I met her through friends and was blessed to take part in helping them raise money for Mandy and her husband Scott to adopt a child. Scott had three children to his first wife, who had passed away. Mandy became a momma to those three children, and together, she and Scott set out on a long, difficult journey of adoption which finally resulted in the adoption of a beautiful baby boy. Mandy’s heart never ran out of love – for people and for her Lord and Savior. She served Him and expressed her love for Him by loving the people He brought into her life – children, fellow bloggers, blog readers she had never met before. She served and loved with all her heart.
Mandy Kelly, her husband Scott, daughter Lizzie, and son Judah passed away the 21st of March, 2017, in a horrible house fire. They leave behind two children who survived. We can never fully understand why something so terrible happened, how God could ever use it for good. We’re simply not wise enough to grasp it. I once heard it compared to what would happen if Aristotle tried to explain philosophy to a bird – no matter what he said, the bird would not understand. It simply wasn’t capable. God is infinitely wiser than any philosopher, but we are simply not capable of understanding every mystery.
But we can learn from them. We can learn from Mandy, who loved everyone with the love she had received from God. It’s His love that her love points us to, the love of a Lord who would do anything to let us know how much He loves us, and the Lord who calls each of us to do the same.
Many bloggers who knew Mandy are sharing their thoughts and what Mandy taught them. I hope you’ll take a few moments to read what they have shared.
Photos courtesy of Mandy Kelly, Rosilind Jukic, and the Kelly family.
Read what others are sharing about Mandy here.
Mary Newman says
Yes I love that she pointed everything she did back to God!
Rhonda Kelly says
Thank you for this beautiful tribute to our Mandy and our precious Scott, Lizzie and Judah. We know we will see them again one day.
Love,
Rhonda (Mandy’s mama)