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.
