Thankful Thursday: Listen and Love Without Ceasing...

Today is Thankful Thursday at Rhondi's Rose Colored Glasses, and while I am thankful for many things, I am truly thankful for the example that my lovely friend Nancy has set for me and for others who know her. Nancy is one of those women who is a natural beauty, and her beauty is magnified by her very loving spirit. You see it immediately in her kind eyes and sweet smile, and her inner qualities shine like the noon day sun. Oh, how I want to be Nancy when I grow up! :-)



Nancy is on the left in the above picture, and she's standing with our friend Stephanie, another one who is lovely through and through. Nancy is older and Stephanie younger than I am. (Seems friendship is an ageless thing!)

Nancy and I have been close friends for many years. I just naturally gravitated toward her because not only is she fun, but she has the world's most positive attitude. She always sees the glass half full. She is loving and giving, and she is the kind of sister you would pick for yourself. I proudly claim her as my sister of the heart.

Several years ago, Nancy went through something that no parent ever wants to experience, the death of a child. While she and her husband have four children, they only had one daughter, and it was Kelly they lost. Kelly, who was so full of life that my husband once said she was what you thought of as the perpetual surfer girl... a golden child with long blonde hair, beautiful tan, healthy, happy, and friendly, as in never-knew-a-stranger friendly. And that's how we will always remember her.

Nancy's trial began when Kelly, a newly-wed of five months, was critically injured in a horseback riding accident and never regained consciousness after neurosurgery. It was an ordeal that all of Nancy's friends and family felt keenly, but when Nancy's feet were put to the fire in the worst possible way, she rose like cream to the surface as did her precious husband, Ron. Their faith in the Lord sustained them through that roughest of times and added an even greater dimension in their capacity to love and be loved.

During what has got to have been the worst week of their lives, I was privileged to be with them every day, all day, and I consider it a privilege because I have never seen so much love radiate from two people, bereaved or not. As tired and heart broken as they were, they ministered to literally everyone who came through their door, particularly Kelly's young friends. And though in the kind of deep pain that makes it hard to even draw a full breath, they looked for the lessons amidst a shipwreck in the life they once knew, lessons they could pass on to others. While it was a horrible event, it was their finest hour, and while I'm saddened still to this day, I'm blessed that I was there to experience their witness. I stood there day after day in awe, and I still am in awe. From that passage, they gained remarkable new courage and insight, and they became even more of a blessing to all those who know them and for those who meet them.

Interestingly, Ron has spent a great deal of time helping to rebuild the shipwreck that is the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He parlayed his experience as the army's coordinator of relief efforts in Bosnia and voluntarily led teams of volunteers (mostly Floridians) to the Coast to help rebuild things there. If there's someone who understands devastation, it's Ron, and his positive attitude and can-do spirit are contagious to those around him. He instills hope in others, even when hope seems all but lost, and Nancy who has has that same ability has helped him in these efforts.

A little closer to home... each year Nancy has a ladies party at Christmas, and the year of their loss, a friend hosted the party instead. Nancy still came, and she asked all of us to share one lesson we'd learned that year. When her turn came, you could have heard a pin drop as she shared, and I would like to share that lesson with you.

As any of her friends will tell you, Nancy personifies Lady Bountiful at every holiday, but that is especially the case at Christmas. She always finds the perfect gifts for her friends and family and makes the holidays so special and inclusive. And she decorates to the hilt. Well that Christmas, Nancy and Ron had been through so much that they decided to just stop and not do any shopping or entertaining. Instead they would give what they felt was the most valuable gift they had which was their time. And they would spend that time listening to the ones they loved... friends, family, co-workers. For, as Nancy said, if you give people your time, they will share their very hearts with you, and they will, in essence, tell you who they are.

For weeks after the funeral, Nancy had taken the time to celebrate Kelly's life. And because Nancy is the kind of mother who kept scrapbooks and journals, she was able to look through these memories alone and with those who loved Kelly and savor the person her daughter was. While listening to others talk and share their memories, Nancy discovered each person had a different piece of the puzzle that made Kelly complete and even more remarkable. Nancy also felt joy and comfort in the knowledge and assurance that the Lord has made it possible for her to be with Kelly forever in the hereafter and never to be separated from her again.

From the heartbreak of that experience, my precious friend Nancy gleaned the best and continues to give love abundantly from the endless supply in her heart. Her sons are a testament to this ability in both of their parents. Her first son has two precious little boys to whom he is devoted, and when her second son Andy and his wife Amy just had their first baby on January 11th of this year, Andy's joy was such that Nancy laughingly said they had to pry the baby from his arms! He simply couldn't put him down! LOL! So I am thankful today that yet another generation of children are being born who will know how to love without ceasing. Oh, how the world needs more of that! Just look at how much this father loves his son, and note, Andy sent me this picture himself! Could his smile get any bigger? :-)

I'm so glad that you visited today for Thankful Thursday, and I encourage you to visit Rhondi's blog, Rose Colored Glasses, to view what more thankful participants have to share. You can get there by clicking here. And trust me, you'll be glad you did! I know because I am, too! :-)



And remember to always listen and love without ceasing...

Thankfully,


Mrs. Magpie (Sheila)