Her grandparents were born in Sweden. She had the typical Scandinavian look -
Long blond hair, blue eyes, long slender legs, soft blemish-free skin, high
cheek bones. She was gorgeous - she was beautiful.
In fact, a professional international photographer in her hometown thought she
was so pretty that he used a photograph of her to advertise his business.
But that was not her real beauty. She was raised by some wonderful Christian
parents and had become a Christian at an early age. Integrity, honesty and
sweetness were just a few of her characteristics. In fact, at her engagement
party, her sister, who knew her better than anyone, said that she had never
heard her tell a lie. All of her friends said the same thing about her: She was
the sweetest girl they knew. She would never speak a harsh word about anyone.
Everyone loved to be around her.
A young man she met in her freshman year started dating her and fell in love
with her - both her exterior photographic beauty and the wonderful godly
character of her inward beauty. She fell in love with him and they spent every
free moment they could with each other over the next four years. They were
committed to each other and they believed in waiting long before the True Love
Waits Campaign ever existed.
One week after they graduated from college, they got married. They loved each
other's company. They would walk together, exercise together, go on bike rides
together, chaperon youth trips together - go to movies, watch TV, eat pizza,
travel - all the things any normal couple would love to do together. They were
so much in love.
She taught school for a year and then became a bookkeeper for a surgical supply
company. One day while she was working, for no apparent reason she lost her
balance and fell on the floor. She was later able to get up and went to see a
doctor that night. He set her up to see a Neurologist. The following day, it
happened again. For no apparent reason, she lost her balance and fell. This
time, though, she couldn't get up. She had lost all feeling in her legs. They
wouldn't move. Her husband had to come to the office and picked her up in his
arms and carried her to the hospital. After six days in the hospital, the doctor
gave this beautiful, active young lady the dreadful news. She had Multiple
Sclerosis and she would continue to deteriorate.
This young couple, who had now been married only 18 months - who loved to go
everywhere together and do everything together - would now face some new
challenges. All their future plans would change, everyday life would change.
They would change.
For the next 20 years, this young lady did deteriorate. She had to take steroids
(not the kind athletes use), but anti-inflammatory steroids. Her bones became
brittle, breaking easily. Her face became puffy and bloated and she could not
even put on make-up. Her body was a mess. She went from a walker, to a scooter,
to a wheelchair. She could no longer feed herself, write her name, or control
her own bodily functions. She now had to have someone stay with her 24 hours a
day.
Folks, if that couple had not had the kind of committed love that's based first
on a personal relationship and a commitment to Jesus Christ, and second on a
love that's based on a commitment to each other, the marriage never would have
lasted. In fact, most of the marriages where a spouse has MS, the other spouse
leaves them. The other spouse won't stay committed to the constant care and the
continual physical, psychological and mental changes that continue to occur.
Hear me carefully, folks, those two people are not heroes. They are not super
saints or super Christians. They will be the first to tell you that they are not
super Christians. Those two people are normal, ordinary people, empowered by the
Love of God and a love for each other, doing what the world considers beyond
normal and extraordinary. I know that for a fact. Because that woman, that
beautiful young lady who will never walk again, who can't even feed herself, is
Lynda Langerfeld - my wife. She's not a hero - I'm certainly not a hero. We're
just children of God, doing what the children of God are supposed to do. Doing
what His children are called to do. Doing what God expects of every man and
every woman who make a vow before God on their wedding day.
Several years ago, there was a film sweeping the nation by storm, about the
disaster surrounding the maiden voyage of the Titanic. There is a beautiful
story painted about a man who goes down with the ship out of a love for his
wife. In the world's eyes, he's a hero. In God's eyes, he's an ordinary man
making an extraordinary sacrifice that every Christian who's committed to his
spouse ought to make.
Sacrificial, Committed Love is the rule, not the exception. We're not
super-saints, we're not heroes when we're being faithful and committed to our
mates. We're just doing what God has called every husband and every wife to do
since the beginning of time.
David Langerfeld
dlangerfeld@harrisburgbaptist.org
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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