Remembering Jaylin

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/72576301[/vimeo] 

With huge and heavy sadness, the community of Hope for Opelousas celebrates the life of Jaylin Levier, and grieves his loss. Also known around our tutoring tables and basketball courts as “Pop,” Jaylin was the kid everybody loved—the staff clowned along with his humor, and his competitive spirit sparked everyone on to better work, better play. It feels too soon to say goodbye, and to be honest, we don’t want to.  It is difficult to try to remember Jaylin’s presence, his spunkiness and sensitivity, when we still feel like we will see his huge smile and soft eyes around HFO.

While it is easy to think of fun times—Jaylin dancing with his cousins, racing to define vocabulary words, cheering on the Tigers—HFO also wants to share some different and very special moments. Times when Jaylin joined in Bible studies and thought deeply about his faith and community that we will treasure, knowing his heart was being pulled toward heaven and he was listening. Just this summer, Jaylin traveled with us to a Christian sports camp, and responded to the gospel message with great intensity. How precious to witness that hunger, joy, and tenderness. Scripture affirms this time of grief, telling us “precious are the deaths of saints;” we are deeply grieving the loss of this incredible life and lift the Levier family up in our prayers. But with equally deep gratitude we celebrate the privilege of knowing Jaylin, loving him, being loved by him, and trusting that he is now laughing and clowning with our Father.

Love Changes Everything!