Remembering Megan

In an earlier post, I mentioned that Megan Heffernan was the reason we first came to Alaska. This being the 7th anniversary of her tragic death, I wanted to honor her memory by telling a bit about her life.

She was born on December 12th, 1973 in Fairbanks, Alaska (AK). Her family eventually moved to Eagle River, AK, where she spent much of her life. I met Meg at George Fox University and she was one of my roommates and best friends. After grdauating from college she went to Pusan, South Korea and taught English for over five years. One weekend Meg and a few friends decided to take a short jaunt to visit Bali, Indonesia. The trip ended in tragedy when she and close to 200 others were killed by the blast of a terrorist's bomb on October 12, 2002. Meg was just 28 years-old. She was a devout Christian, and she lived by the maxim "No regrets - Never settle." She lived a life of loving others. Her life impacted me in huge ways while she was living and continues to impact me each day.

Here are a few things that remind me of Meg: world traveler (she went everywhere), learning (she was curious about everything), living life to the fullest, prolific writer and deep thinker, laid back risk taker (she enjoyed sky diving, bungee jumping, scuba diving, backpacking and Hapkido), amazing photographer (after Bali she was planning to submit her pictures to the airline magazines), people (she made friends wherever she went and was quite comfortable engaging those with different world-views), Volkswagen Bugs and convertibles (especially those that were hand painted with names like "The Soul Trolley"), good food & desserts (especially cheesecake and doughnuts), frequent flyer miles (she mentored me in racking up the miles for travel) and so many other things!

It's amazing how God can bring life and joy out of tragedy. Through tragedy (Meg's death) I came to AK in 2004 to do some grief work with my friend Lanette. It was very healing to connect with her family (who have become like family to me) and read her journals and sort through her belongings. I had the opportunity to see where she grew up, went to school, and visit her favorite places. Girdwood (where we live now) was one of the places we visited during that trip. While in Girdwood, I said to Mo (Meg's sister) and Lanette that I would love to live here. I had no idea that five years later God would lead us here! His plans are amazing.

About three years ago Brent and I set up The Megan Heffernan Memorial Scholarship at Alliance Theological Seminary (ATS). The goal was to honor Meg and ultimately reduce the prevalence of terrorism. If you are interested in giving to this scholarship please e-mail us and we will get you information about it.

To close, here is a prayer I found in Meg's journal. It's a prayer that we also embrace:
“God, let me not waste any time, not even a second. This life is too short. It’s hard, it’s suffering and it’s pain. Sometimes it’s not what we hope it to be, but God I want my life to be worth something. I don’t want to waste it. Whatever is my purpose - for right here, right now - show me what it is…. Teach me what love is so I can love each moment and each person and each everything.”