Don't Walk Alone   

The following article is from an email that was sent to me once by a dear friend (who, coincidentally, was diagnosed with breast cancer just a short time later)...

My cousin, Donnie, lost his beautiful sweet wife to pancreatic cancer earlier this month. Jeannine was a precious person. She touched the lives of many people, family, and friends. Jeannine and I were not as close as we had been in the past due to raising children and busy lives, but there are some things that will always be with me because of her. When our grandmother was in a nursing home in Chatom, Jeannine and I would travel, with her little one, Kimberly, to visit Nanny every Friday. Jeannine began visiting Nanny long before I had the opportunity to travel with her. We would load up her little car with the walker and car-seat and head to Chatom. Jeannine enjoyed this so much. She told me one of the reasons was so that Nanny could enjoy Kimberly as much as she could in her last years on this earth, but another was because she loved Nanny. Jeannine had a big heart, and it showed.

When I had tried two years to get pregnant with my first child, Jeannine was my encourager. She said, "Margie, I am praying for you every day and when God knows the time is right, he will bless you. Have faith." She was the first person I called that morning I read the plus sign on the pregnancy test. She was so excited, but also not surprised. She said, "I told you! It's obviously the right time."

Jeannine was also very funny. Anyone that knows her will tell you that you never left a conversation with Jeannine without a smile. We used to joke with each other when one of us was sick and say, "If you need anything, let me know." Jeannine hated when people said that because she felt like if you wanted to do something for someone, you just did it; you didn't wait for someone to ask for help. That's just the kind of person she was and she was loved so much because of it.

Jeannine did not walk alone during her life, and she did not walk alone during her final months. She chose to walk with God. A week before she passed, I asked her, "How are you so calm?" She said, “I am not worried about me. God is preparing a feast for me right now and I am content. I am just concerned about those I am leaving behind." Jeannine was fortunate to have a precious mother, a loving brother, a husband who adored her, two beautiful children, and many whose lives she touched and who may not ever realize how much. She felt truly blessed in this life.

Jeannine sent me an email after she was diagnosed with cancer. Attached was a video that showed a father and son completing an Ironman race. The Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile marathon along the coast of the Big Island. The difference is that the son was confined to a wheelchair with cerebral palsy. He asked his dad if they could do the race together, and they did, the father swimming with his son in a boat attached to the father's waist, running with the wheelchair, and with the son fixed to his bike. At the end of the email was the verse from Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." This is the verse that allowed Jeannine to endure her race and reach the ultimate goal.

Don't walk alone. Run this race of life together with Christ. Do that, and no matter what happens in your life, you can know that, because of your relationship with Christ, He will bring you to that glorious eternal home if you will only trust Him.