One of my relatives has been dealing with a lot over the past 10 years, with the discovery of cancer in herself, then when that was dealt with, a rare type of cancer in her 18 year old daughter, along with her husband's continuing major health challenges. Add in a couple of moves, job changes, financial and other upheavals most people would be totally stressed by. It's just seemed like there was one thing after another through the years I've kept up with her.
As a life-threatening crisis with her husband's health arose recently, her brother had a conversation with her about how she was dealing with it all. I'd like to share part of an email she sent in response, copied to all of us and shared here with her permission.
After our conversation last night, I was thinking about why I think the way I do. People are always telling me they don’t know how I do it, and they couldn’t, etc.
Basically, it comes down to four things. First, it’s like we discussed: SURVIVAL. I literally have to fight for my health (stress kills) also I have to fight for sanity. All of these challenges can make a person crazy! In addition, like any mother (human or animal), I have to fight to protect my family (from their health to teaching them how to stand up for themselves in a world that tends to take advantage of young people). It’s all survival skills.
Second is FAITH. Let me try to explain the way I see it. About three years ago, a tall mountain with sheer cliffs was placed in front of me. I needed to figure out how to get over that mountain to the other side. I had two choices as I looked up. I could take control, use lots of equipment and try to scale it alone, clawing and fighting to reach the other side. Probably making very slow painful progress and never getting anywhere. OR… I could take the hand that was held out to me in faith, and be assisted up the side of the mountain and over the top.
I chose to take the hand, in complete faith, KNOWING that I will be OK no matter what. Once I did that, I have faced every day head on, knowing that God has my back and that everything is happening just as it is meant to, and at just the right time. I never get angry, or question why me? Why not me? Why someone else instead of me?
Third is SERVICE. I live every day in service to others. I wake up each morning ready to help, encourage, smile and share. I have a peace inside in spite of the adversity, knowing that I’m doing the best that I can, and that God is okay with that.
Fourth is GRATITUDE. I live in that state every day.
That’s me in a nutshell.
Love, xo
None of us are exempt from the problems that come upon us, deserved or not, in an imperfect world. How we handle them - and Who or what we turn to in those times of challenges - determines the quality of our life, and how much peace we will have. It can also determine the outcomes of our lives, as it sets us on the path that leads to our future.
I believe that God is there in the middle of our most challenging times (as always) and that He wants us to get to know and trust him more. The more we know about someone, the more we will trust them if their character is strong and true, as is our God's.
Remember whose hands you're in, no matter what you're going through. You can trust God in the good and bad times in life, knowing that he will keep you strong and give you strength when you're not. He is always there for you to lean on.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, NIV
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. - Jude 1:24-15, NIV
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