Burdens to Carry

So I have a friend at work who has been dealing with a hardship for most of the summer. She's got a lot on her plate and I worry for her.

She is engaged and is planning an April wedding. Sounds like a joyous occasion, right? Not so much. She found out her mother has ovarian cancer. She also found out that her mother's original doctor may have overlooked obvious signs and told her that there was nothing to worry about, despite abnormal test results after several tests.

My heart breaks for her just imagining the daily hardships she faces trying to take care of her mother while she is undergoing chemotherapy, allthewhile helping her father with the basic housekeeping responsibilities and finances - all things he left his wife responsible for.

But there's more. If that's not enough for a woman who has a full time job and did have a second part time job to handle, her fiance is a member of the US Air Force and is currently deployed to Afghanistan.

Yet, despite all of these terribly sad circumstances my friend has encountered, she has not let it wear her down. In fact, she told me a story today about a conversation she had with her mother recently. Her family is very religious; faith is extremely important to them. She said that she told her mother that she believes her mother spared someone else. God knows her mother is such a strong woman, the strongest woman my friend knows, in fact, that He gave her these burdens to carry because she is strong enough to carry them.

I'm rarely speechless. But I was speechless when she told me this.

I'm not really sure where I was going with this.... I guess I'm just in awe that my friend, who herself is experiencing terrible burdens, would look on the situation with such grace and wisdom. I admire her for her courage in this difficult time, for holding herself together.

Who do you admire?



-Coupon Mama Massachusetts