THIS
IS HER LEGACY
(Tribute
to Debbie)
I
wanted to take this time to write about my friend who had ALS. She
was diagnosed January 2012 with it and just passed away this April
26, 2013’. We had been friends for 18 years, experiencing many of
the same things. We would even have sibling rivalry with each other
then pick up where we left off as if there were no rifts. I use to do
the blog for her, typing the entries as she felt led. (living with
ALS by Debbie). But there was another side I want to talk about, it
is enduring. Debbie told me she had a hard time believing and then
excepting it was God’s will for her life to be stuck in a chair. It
meant dying to self, accepting his will. It meant picking up her
cross of suffering along with his. It meant believing nothing ever
happens by accident but by God allowing it for a reason. And mostly
the acceptance of the scripture; “All things work together to the
good for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And she did, she took that
chair as a ministry. She forgave people, prayed for them. She praised
God for his holiness, righteousness, mercy, grace, forgiveness and
love. She identified with the cross of Christ that became a part of
her life.
A
week or two before she passed she told me she was ready, that
everything was in God’s hands and she loved him. Total surrender
and a transformation into the likeness of Christ. When I went to see
her I saw his love in her eyes. It was as if I was looking on holy
ground for his presence was there. Her ministry in that chair is
done. Now the ripple effects will continue on until the work is
finished, for our works follow us. And I thought to myself; “Could
I have been as yielded and surrendered as her? Could I have had Joy
in the middle of my pain? Could I have?” Those who are the most
broken and hurting are the most humble. It is our brokenness that God
can work with. Debbie was the proof of a life yielded, surrendered
and transformed into the likeness of Christ: This is her legacy.