Real Faith

October 21, 2009

I talk a lot about real faith on this blog (and why not since that's what it's called!). But in the past few weeks I have had the unique opportunity to watch steady, unwavering, real faith in action.

Six weeks ago, my mother-in-law suffered what we thought was a stroke. Dad called me to tell me he'd called 911 and they were taking her to the hospital. Within a week, we learned Mom hadn't suffered a stroke at all, but rather had an inoperable brain tumor. They gave her less than six months to live. All this sounds like bad news, and it was. Family flew in from out of state. We cried. We hugged. We tried to encourage one another.

But here's the thing. Mom and Dad have walked each day in God's grace, holding hands and looking up. Mom says she's ready to die. She's at peace with God and it's a win-win situation for her. She says she only feels bad for us. She worries about Dad. She hopes someone will use the pork roast in her freezer. She often says she loves us and holds our hands, sometimes with tears in her eyes. But she's calm. There's no panic or fear of dying. In her words, "I'm ready to die. I just don't know how to do it." We assure her God will walk her through those last moments of her life just as He has walked with her all the other days.

Mom spent a couple weeks in a care facility after undergoing her brain biopsy. There was an incredibly grumpy, loud woman in the next room. They had to share a bathroom. We did our best to keep Mom away from this negative person. That's the last thing she needed in her time of recovery. But Mom heard about her and heard her yelling at nurses from time to time. "I need to meet her sometime," she said. We tried to divert her and say she didn't need to. "No, I want to meet her," she said firmly. "She needs help." Mom was always one to help anyone who needed it, no matter if they were lovely or unlovely. A brain tumor wouldn't deter her. Real faith. It comes from the heart and overflows into action.

As Mom and Dad journey through these last months of their life together, I pray I'll continue to learn from their faithful example. They celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary on Oct. 14th. Nurses and aides came in to wish them well, sign their giant card and enjoy a piece of cake with them. Mom and Dad left their mark of love on each one.

Real faith walks a life of love, then it peacefully rides in a wheelchair when that time comes. Real faith looks death in the eye and says I still win.
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About Linda Carlblom

What does real faith look like and how does it act in my life? That's what this blog is all about. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be one of those Christians who lives a good life just so it pays off in the next life. I want it to count now. So how do we do that? I think what we do today for God and our fellow man can have an incredible impact on our lives and the world around us. So let's encourage each other to live for God and let's walk this faith journey together.

 

Author of "Interactive Children's Sermons, 52 Messages from the Psalms" (Standard,2001). I love writing tween fiction. I am one of six authors writing Camp Club Girls, a new tween girls series for Barbour Publishing.