January 2012 Update

I know it has been quite a while since my last update. In fact, there has been more covered since my last post that I could even begin to address in a single post. Hopefully, most of the readers are now on Facebook and have seen all the updates.

In the event you have not seen it, I would like to say, you are missing out on some good stuff! Namely, I got married on January 21st of this year to Jessica Givens. All you really need to know is that God placed her in my life with perfect timing that only He is capable of. I can't explain everything that points to that conclusion, but I know with everything in me, that is exactly what has happened!

If you are wondering how Levi is adjusting, I can say without hesitation, don't worry about him. He has fallen in love with Jessica just like I have. And, she has fallen in love with the "Bush boys" as well. We have become one happy family unit. :-)

Levi starts Kindergarten this fall. His school is right next to our house. We have him spending a couple days a week with a tutor to make sure he is ready. He is growing like a weed and starts his second season of soccer in about a month.

Finally, we are having a wedding reception in Jacksonville on April 6th on the beach for those interested in attending. It is going to be a great celebration, for real! More to come later!!!!

One year ago today, several things came to an end: Stephanie's fight with cancer, her ability to raise Levi day by day, and our marriage of more than 19 years. BUT, several things came to pass as well: Stephanie now experiences the love of our Heavenly Father in ways we can only dream about and hope for, I have a new, more experienced way in which I view and process life, and we all are better off for having known and reflected on the person that Stephanie was here on Earth and in our lives.

I share with you today a poem (if you can call it that) I wrote in early 2011, about a month after Stephanie's death. As I look back on the last year and reread this poem, there is much to see. The piece that stands out to me now is the analogy I used about a forest fire. The hope they lay just beneath the surface then is now in full bloom. Levi and I have been blessed with a new beginning that promises to grow into a thriving, green forest, rich with love and experience for as long as God wills it to be.

Please, take a moment today and reflect on who Stephanie was and what she meant to you. Thank God for her presence in your life, thank Him for the loved ones in your life, and thank Him for the new beginnings we are all blessed to experience, be it the start of a new family unit or the cleansed life that can only come from the acceptance of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. - Kevin

It is dark and my legs are weak

Tired of it all when she began to speak

Igniting the flame of hope

Travel begins to the place of dreams

Love welcomes with open arms

Acceptance was past

and light filled the corners of my soul

After years of together

Her life was no more

Hope burnt to the ground

The forest floor smolders

But hope lies just beneath

It will prevail and burst through

A beautiful contrast of

Pale green against the black

She smiles in peaceful solitude

The pain and sorrow gone with the wind

Her soul rejoicing in the race she ran

Now embraced by the ones she loves

Warmed by the beauty of perfect light

And rewarded for her faithful fight