Over my last two years of coming so much closer to God in my own brokenness, the one thing that has impacted me more than anything else is how little I understood of who he really was, how passionate he was about loving me, and that he would do anything, anything, to prove that to me. I think that Zac showed that to us in such a profound and completely unexpected way, that the message was not only heard and seen by others, it was felt.

We can only experience God’s profound, passionate, persistent love if we trust him–through whatever life dishes out. And Zac figured that out, and he taught us that–because he was completely, in intimate, profound, passionate, and persistent love with Jesus. And he knew he would continue to speak not only through the video. He knew he would speak through you, and the kids. And he does.

Whether it takes a Road to Damascus experience or not, being in love with Jesus, and his church is glorious, GLORIOUS! We are so grateful that you have been here with us, and that you remain. Someday, we need to get together!

Zac wanted to travel the world in order to impact people…he’s STILL doing this through the video!

Zac wanted to marry his tech skills/love with his love for the church…he did that through Newspring & his work is STILL working!

Zac wanted to preach to the masses…he STILL does this through his blog and the video!

Zac wanted to give his family a wonderful home and wonderful community…I don’t know of a better place than Newspring and the upstate of South Carolina!

I COULD GO ON…
I’m with you Mandy…TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!!

Thanks for your enduring spirit and your faithfulness to Jesus through such a tough time in your life. I’m praying for you and your children tonight and thanking God for Zac’s powerful example.

Tomorrow I will be answering tough questions about suffering at my church, and I will be using Zac’s story and video as an incredible example of suffering well. I’m confident that God will use it in my congregation to help all of us to learn to do the same.

Peace & Prayers,

Neil

I’m sorry that I didn’t notice until now that you have been blogging here. Here is my Zacadote.

I only had the privilege of meeting Zac once. It was only a couple weeks after the cancer was originally discovered in May of 2009. I was on a road trip through the east coast and I had connected with Zac via twitter earlier that year. I stopped at worship at NewSpring’s Anderson Campus on a Saturday evening. Zac had offered to give me a little tour of the new facilities. He and Jared gave me and my travel companion the full tour of the campus.

I know at that point in his life, he was probably very scared and confused about cancer. However he didn’t let any of that show. He was gracious and answered my questions and walked with me for about an hour. In my brief face-to-face with Zac it was clear to me that he is a genuine individual. He cares for people deeply and his faith in God, even in those first few weeks of cancer, was so real. I thank God for Zac. I thank him for the message of hope and faith that he chose Zac to be a catalyst for.

But, God is still good. The videos that were made about Zac’s story were simply amazing and I know they have changed lives.

I wish I could say that I had all these wonderful memories to share with you, but I never met Zac. Last summer I was looking at Newspring videos on Vimeo, and came across the Letter to Zac video. I emailed the church, and they told me about his blog. I followed your story, and prayed often for your family. I was always humbled by the way Zac handle cancer, and loved his family. The most beautiful part about Zac’s life is that the number of lives he touched is still in the making! He was so transparent, and made himself vulnerable in his struggles so that Christ could get all the glory. Mandy, thank you for continuing Zac’s blog!

I pray that his story will continue to impact the Kingdom of Heaven, and that your family may find peace and comfort in his memories!

Paula