I've been thinking a lot about faith and strength during adversity.
It started Sunday night after learning of our friend, Ken's, death.
We first met Ken 20 something years ago when he showed up at
our house with a few of his 10 children in tow.
Gary was Bishop at the time, and he had come by to
introduce himself and tell us that his family would be moving
into a house in the neighborhood.
He had retired as a dentist in Arizona when he had
learned that he had MS and could no longer practice.
The only indication of the disease at that time, to me anyway,
was that he looked tired.
Through the years we've seen Ken's body slowly give up on him.
But not once did we see he or his wife, Leslie's, spirits give up.
They have been a source of inspiration to me and countless others.
They have remained united in their purpose, in their beliefs,
in their commitment to their family,
They rank right up there with the angels in my book.
That is not to say there have not been years of sorrow,
anguish, pain, and feelings of hopelessness.
But that has not dominated their lives.
Their love and respect for each other has
been the dominating factor in their lives.
That and the eternal promise of their marriage.
Then today I was reading this article in the Deseret News.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705324424/Blessed-by-adversity-Utah-man-refuses-to-wallow-in-past.html
Again, amazing.
They are my heroes.
It started Sunday night after learning of our friend, Ken's, death.
We first met Ken 20 something years ago when he showed up at
our house with a few of his 10 children in tow.
Gary was Bishop at the time, and he had come by to
introduce himself and tell us that his family would be moving
into a house in the neighborhood.
He had retired as a dentist in Arizona when he had
learned that he had MS and could no longer practice.
The only indication of the disease at that time, to me anyway,
was that he looked tired.
Through the years we've seen Ken's body slowly give up on him.
But not once did we see he or his wife, Leslie's, spirits give up.
They have been a source of inspiration to me and countless others.
They have remained united in their purpose, in their beliefs,
in their commitment to their family,
They rank right up there with the angels in my book.
That is not to say there have not been years of sorrow,
anguish, pain, and feelings of hopelessness.
But that has not dominated their lives.
Their love and respect for each other has
been the dominating factor in their lives.
That and the eternal promise of their marriage.
Then today I was reading this article in the Deseret News.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705324424/Blessed-by-adversity-Utah-man-refuses-to-wallow-in-past.html
Again, amazing.
They are my heroes.
3 comments:
Nice story and good thoughts. Mom used to say that if everyone lay their own problems on the table that most of the time we would take our own back. Adversity is a "hard doctrine" to understand. However, I do believe it is a necessary "evil" that allows us to grow.
I am still reading your blog AAA......it has been hard to comment on the last couple of entries, but im sure there will be one to poke fun at? Thanks for this last one. You know how it is with me?
If I had read this earlier I would have known about his death, I didn't even hear anything about it until today, I felt so bad. I just know wonderful Leslie, Ken has always been very ill since I've known them, but I think they are wonderful and Leslie has been such a wonderful example of sacrifice and dedication.
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