Remembering Tina

It’s been exactly one year since my lovely bride of just over 24 years passed away.

Do I miss her?

More than you’ll ever know.

Do I still grieve for her?

More than you’ll ever see.

But thanks be to God who gives me VICTORY — victory over my pain and loss and victory over grief and death.

Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, “We do not want you to be uninformed… about those who are asleep” — about those who have died — “that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”

There’s real grieving, which is to be expected, and there’s real hope, which is to be embraced.

Grieving is real, losses are real, pain is real — really felt, really expressed — but hope overshadows it all because of what Christ did on the cross.

I will always be thankful for the short time God blessed me with Tina but even more so for the time she and I will be able to share with Him eternally.

And even though the past twelve months have been the most difficult months of my life, I’ve learned a ton, healed a little and pressed into God a lot.

Matter of fact, the time I’ve spent with the Lord has been the most treasured time of each and every day. His Word speaks to me. It comforts me. But, most importantly, it changes me.

And that’s what I feel like He’s calling me to do with this site — make a change. In other words, switch gears so that I can move forward.

So after much thought and prayer, I’ve decided to sunset TeamTina.me.

My reasons are twofold:

1. This site was setup to keep people informed during our journey throughout Tina’s battle, not consistently dwell on it once it was over.
2. Tina’s legacy should revolve around her not cancer.

Does this mean I’m deleting TeamTina.me?

Absolutely not!

I plan to keep it live indefinitely since the words she wrote still continue to minister to people today. I just don’t plan to update it from this date forward.

I believe one of the healthiest things my kids and I can do from this point forward is to focus on who she was, not the disease she fought.

One of the ways we’ll accomplish this is by collecting and featuring as many stories as we can from friends and family as well as readers like you over at TinaMacNamara.com.

My goal with this new site is to build a collection of stories about Tina that provides an online resource of her legacy for all to enjoy.

My hope is that they’ll not only encourage you but will also provide additional memories for my kids to unpack that reinforce a life of authentic faith, hope, and love.

Legacy is not leaving something for people. It’s leaving something in people.

— Peter Strople

The inheritance we pass on to our children is more than the material possessions or the financial assets outlined in our will. It also includes the legacy we leave and the example we set. In this way, inheritance is more than what we usually think about.

This is an important perspective — and the ramifications are not only significant but massively important to eternity as well. My prayer is that TinaMacNamara.com will remind my kids of this whenever they peruse the site.

So if you’d like to contribute, please go HERE and submit anything you’d like to share.

We’ll be forever grateful!

Patrick, Madeline & Creed

P.S. As I sign off from this site, please know how instrumental you were to the journey. Your love, prayers, comments, emails, texts, cards, and letters have not gone unnoticed. You truly are loved and appreciated!

P.P.S. If you haven’t done so already and are interested in learning about what the kids and I will be doing next, please fill out the form that shows below. I’ll then email you sometime in either July or August with more information. It’s going to be awesome!