Sixty years ago today, Linda was in Kentucky and I was in Florida. Even though we were on Christmas break, our thoughts kept returning to what had just happened at a small college in Cleveland, Tennessee. After ignoring each other for a year and a half, in the two weeks before leaving campus, we had been on two dates. After the holidays, our courtship blossomed, and we were married seven months later.
In previous blogs, I have shared much of the great joy, as well as debilitating pain, that Linda and I have experienced during our long life together. Today, I am going to focus on the present, glimpse at the past, and detail the undergirding foundation upon which Linda and I have built our lives. All those years ago, if those starry-eyed young lovers had known that Linda would have spent the last five Christmases as a resident in the memory care unit at Legacy Village, the news would have crushed us. For that precise reason, God, who knows the end from the beginning, has called His children to trust Him moment by moment as He transforms us into the image of Jesus Christ.
The picture accompanying today’s blog, taken in the great room of our home in Buford, Georgia in December 2011, vividly illustrates two conflicting realties: For Linda, trimming the Christmas tree could better be described as producing a work of art. At that time, eight years after the first hints of the beginning of Alzheimer’s, her creativity and motor skills should have been more diminished. I still see hints of those same extremes, albeit in a much different setting: Last Wednesday, while assisting her with eating, she periodically resisted my help and spilled some of her food in the process. Conversely, when I told her how much I loved her, she sweetly smiled, reached out her food-stained hand and gently squeezed mine. In the midst of all the untidiness, the feelings of sixty years ago rushed to the surface.
The hope that has sustained Linda and me through times of great joy, as well as debilitating pain, cannot be understood in terms of human reasoning. Rather it is succinctly summed up in a single statement: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1 NIV). Early in our marriage, we were captivated by the story of a teenage girl who lived out the essence of that truth:
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called infertile is in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold the Lord’s bond servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her (Luke 1:26-38 NASB).
Three takeaways can be identified:
- Manifesting great humility, she seriously evaluated the impossible assignment that was being given to her by God in terms of her ability to bring it to pass.
- Rather than offer a manifold rejection based upon an awareness of that which she knew to be factual, she requested that additional information be brought to the forefront. In essence, tell me about those things which I do not know.
- After being assured that this great event would be based upon God’s limitless resources and not her capacity to perform, she surrendered her will, reputation and future to God. Simply put, she became sure of what she hoped for and certain of what she could not see.
Ron Harvard Ministries 