Faith

This is the story of an extraordinary woman who is the mother of four daughters. When her children were 12, 10, 6 and 5, her husband left her. She became a single mom and raised and supported her family alone. She did this by working two jobs, seven days a week. Monday through Friday she worked from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. as a secretary, and from 5 to 10 in the evenings at a hotel restaurant. On the weekends, she worked at the restaurant, often working a double shift. Most Sundays she was able to arrange her work schedule so that she could attend Sunday school and worship services with her children. The woman lived from paycheck to paycheck. She never knew from week to week if she would have enough money to make the house payment, buy food, clothing, gas or pay for the utilities. But every Sunday she put her offering in the church offering plate.

When the youngest child was almost 11, the child became ill with encephalitis. She was rushed to the hospital, underwent two neurological procedures, and was in a coma for almost three weeks. After a month-long hospital stay, the doctors advised the mother that they were going to release the child from the hospital, and that there was nothing more that they could do for her. The doctors also recommended to the mother that the child be put in an institution because her condition would never improve. The child would always remain in a vegetative state.

The mother did not accept the doctor’s prognosis. She rented a wheelchair, a hospital bed and made all the arrangements necessary for caring for an invalid child at home. She searched for and found a loving and nurturing woman, who had raised six children of her own, to care for the child during the day. This was in early September.

By Christmas the child was walking, talking and feeding herself. She was not 100 percent recovered and never would be, but she was close. The child was being tutored three days a week by a homebound teacher, and at the end of that school year, she finished the sixth grade with her classmates.

Despite the lost income, and ongoing medical and child care expenses, and because of this woman’s belief in God’s goodness and grace, this woman was able to see beyond her daily difficulties and challenges and recognize all the ways in which God had blessed her. She continued to faithfully give back to God a portion of that which he had given her.

For me, this woman is a shining example of the meaning of sacrificial giving and the meaning of having faith and trust in God: to believe that God keeps his promises and that God will provide. This extraordinary mother is my Mom. It is because of the example that she lived for me, that it is a joy and a gift for me to have the opportunity to give back to God a portion of that which he has given to me.

— Rita Heeter