Never Ending Faith
A Grief Devotional About the Love, Strength, and Faith My Mother Left Me With
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"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." – Psalm 73:26 NIV
Over the years, I heard Mom tell this story countless times, so I wanted to share it with you. Prior to Mom’s kidney transplant, she had to see a psychiatrist. They wanted to make sure she was in the right frame of mind, would take care of the kidney by taking her anti-rejection medications, etc.
“Are you sure you’re on dialysis?”, the psychiatrist asked my mother. Mom looked at her plastic dialysis loop graph in her left arm and responded, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure!” “But how are you so chipper and upbeat?”, the lady asked. Mom replied, “Because - I wake up each day, thank the Lord for another day, and I give it right back to Him.” Momma’s faith was her foundation throughout the wear and tear of dialysis. She knew she had two small children to live for and she wanted to fight for us. She relied on the Lord for His strength and guidance. As the Psalmist said,
“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” – Psalm 55:22 KJV
She maintained her faith in God throughout the twenty-one years after her transplant. My mother knew daily pain and fatigue. She knew that as time went on, especially near the end, things would continue to go downhill with her health, but she never lost her faith, and she never lost her smile.
A co-worker of mine, who became a close friend and prayed for Momma, told me, “I was always amazed at how no matter how horrible your sweet Momma was feeling, she’d still have a smile on her face. She’d lean her pretty head over on you in almost every photo and smile. Such an inspiration.”
Momma drew off the strength of the Lord. That was the only way her fragile and frail body was able to sustain dialysis (from Wegner's Granulomatosis), a kidney transplant, diabetes (from the transplant meds), sleep apnea, AFib which led to two cardioversions and an ablation, cancer in her native kidney, a bronchoscopy during which they punctured both of her lungs, two hernia repairs, a broken back, bronchiectasis, cataract surgery, skin cancer, and countless other health issues (including daily sinus problems and tinnitus). Not to mention how she was able to fight for twenty-nine days in the hospital prior to her death, powering through two infections in her bloodstream and one in her lungs, bottomed-out stats twice, which led to it killing her kidney and her having to do CRRT dialysis, four back-to-back stomach surgeries to identify air in her abdomen which they never found, but lacerated her liver which led to twenty-two blood transfusions in one night, and three mini-strokes prior to the Lord calling her home. There is no way anyone could do what my mother did without the strength of the Lord. My Momma fought all those years for my brother and I. Right up until the end. Right up until the Lord said her fight was over, and she could finally receive her well-earned reward.
My Mother taught us to pray, to trust in the Lord for his guidance, and to call on Him when we needed strength. I do my best to pray each morning, thanking Him for another chance to shine a light for Him, and then I put the day back in His capable hands. Just as my mother did all those years. It’s the only way I can make it through. Our bodies will give out, but our spirits don’t have to.
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About the Book
In her debut novel, Sarah E. Boring shares a glimpse into her personal grief journey in the first year after losing her best friend, her mother, Valerie. Through specially chosen Bible verses and candid thoughts, she’ll walk you through some of her mourning moments as she’s having them.
Sarah was a caregiver to her mom for several years and shares pivotal points in the story of her inspirational and brave mother. She describes the wonderful, devoted, and determined woman her mother was, the health battles she fought for twenty-five years, and details her last four painful weeks before being called to Heaven.
With a focus on how her mother never lost her faith no matter what she faced, these devotional passages are meant to provide comfort, hope, and inspiration. Sarah also shares advice for fellow grievers based on her experiences of losing her mother slowly and painfully, but also of losing her dad, Roger, unexpectedly five and a half years earlier. Sarah goes into detail about the questions one asks after losing a loved one, the feeling of no longer having a purpose once your person is gone, and the unmatched power of prayer.
In an effort to get some of her strong and loving mother’s story on paper, Sarah’s goal is not to reduce her mother simply to another life lost to brutal illness but to share the story of a life well lived about a faithful woman who was and is well-loved.
About the Author
Sarah E. Boring is a Christian, family-focused, debut author. Having lost both her parents and finding comfort in scripture and grief books, she wants to give back to the grieving community by sharing personal thoughts, family stories, and advice based on her experiences.