Amanda's Eulogy...

This is the eulogy that was read at Amanda's memorial service. We hope it helps people to know Amanda a little better...

I said so long to a good friend a week ago today. Not forever, but for a little while. Amanda was a daughter, a sister, a wife, a confidant, a friend and a child of God. She was my sister in Christ. Amanda was stronger than most people and faced adversity with a calm, cool, collective demeanor than is rare in society today. She did not run from pain, but faced it head on. She called it “sucking it up”. Most of all, Amanda was a pistol. There was no stopping her. She did what she was going to do and most often did it better than most. She would not let illness stand in her way.

See was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at 4 months of age. That was a hard pill for me to swallow. What I knew about CF was from Public Service Announcements from the 1960's. It is rare that anything makes me weak in the knees, but finding out that one of my precious daughters had a chronic and often terminal illness did just that. It blindsided Veronica and me, but our answer was to fight it to the best of our ability, and reley on God for the rest of the fight and strength we needed. He provided as He always does.

Amanda asked me at around 8 years old, how she could live with Jesus forever. I explained the plan of salvation to her and we prayed the sinners prayer together. From that day on, Amanda was not only my daughter, she was my sister in Christ. She had one of the most amazingly strong faiths I've ever known. In spite of this crushing disease, she never blamed God. Questioned, maybe. Blame, no way. Amanda LOVED the Lord. This gives us great comfort as we know we will see her again. I'll never forget the long talks we've had about Jesus and religion and faith. Her concern was for others, both temporaly and eternally. She really cared about others, almost to a fault. Her life and that huge smile projected her faith in Christ to others.

As a wife, Amanda was a Proverbs 31 woman. If you'd like to know about what kind of wife she was, then read the whole chapter.

Verses 30 and 31 sum up Amanda pretty well. We read:

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31Honor her for all that her hands have done,and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Amanda loved her husband Cody. In spite of her illness, she always tried to make a nice home, keep the books and do any task that Cody asked her to. She was willing to work outside the home to help achieve their goals and plans. She was an amazing wife.

Amanda loved her family. She and her sisters could fight and be mad at each other and have their little tiffs, but if anyone messed with a Warnock, they were messing with her. She loved her Scottish heritage and proudly wore her Rampant Lion tatoo from the Royal Flag of Scotland. She is a proud descendant of The Bruce, King James Stewart, and The Earl of Argyle and Alexander Hamilton. She wore that heritage on her sleeve, so to speak.

We were so incredibly blessed to have Amanda spend the end of last summer and fall with us, while Cody was deployed. We did so many things together and enjoyed every minute of it. We were like the Three Musketeers. Amanda told us of her desire to be a videographer and shoot music videos of country stars. Her dream was to live in Nashville and be a successful producer. She shot her first music video this last fall for an up and coming artist named Zac Young. If Amanda had a goal, she made it a reality. When most people dream, Amanda just plain did. She revealed to us during that time, that we were her best friends. We teared up over such an honor.

Amanda's life was a beautiful testimony. One of faith and love. One of courage and strength. We would all do good to follow her example. In a world hungry for heroes, I didn't have to look far. Amanda WAS my hero.

Many of us are looking for answers as to why Amanda was taken from us at such a young age. While I can't give you those answers I can put fourth my theory. In Psalms 139 verses 13 and 14 we read: 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. God knew that Amanda's spirit was larger than life and could only reside in the body her mother and I pro-created for her for a short time. James 4:14 tells us: Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. While Amanda was more like a Texas tornado than a mist, the verse is still true. We should take comfort in knowing that as we approach a holiday we call Easter, with it's bunnies that lay eggs and other fables, Amanda is spending Passover and the Feast of First Fruits with our resurrected Savior in Heaven and she is having the time of her life with the true vine, the true blood and the true bread that was given once for us all. We all have the same opportunity that Amanda has been afforded by acknowledging Jesus as our Lord and Savior, Amen. May God bless all that hear this message.