Many years ago my mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. When I heard that, the first thing I thought was 'it won't be long until she's in a wheelchair.' That was over 15 years ago. Today she walked 3.1 miles.
We all walked with her.
Los Gatos was hosting an M.S. Walk 5k in Vasona Park. The executive pastor of Calvary Church, Dale Gustafson, also has M.S. and pulled together a team of walkers he calls the 'Gus Bus'.
Family health is always a concern for any missionary. You're praying that God would preserve them and not let harm befall them. As we support each other, we're constantly praying for one another and family members. Often we will fly back to be with family through illness.
In previous years, my family has sent us photos of them on the walk, while we were in PNG. Each year seeing that photo has been a huge encouragement to us because it means mom is still walking!
This year however, her personal goal was to walk the entire 5,000 meters. In previous years she had walked the shorter loop. And since we were here, we signed up and joined for the walk.
The point of the thing is to raise money for research to a cure, and to raise awareness. 1200 people showed up! Including 5 people on our team alone who have M.S.!!
That's amazing.
Together, we walked. Seeing my mom walk that entire length, put my spirit at ease about the fact that we're getting on a plane in a few weeks. Because the health of parents is a huge concern, and not knowing about the future always weighs heavily.
So today, I PRAISE GOD for my mom's health, my dad's health. Earlier we praised God that Kendal's mom was home from the hospital, she still needs to heal so you can pray for that.
For a few hours today, my PRAISE was:
GOD you're so faithful, my mom is still walking, and more capable this year than the previous year! AND we got to walk with her! Thank you God for that! It means a lot.
Look how happy she is, that she made her goal (to be honest, she was in better shape than me!)
She even photobombed us!!! (with my brother in law apparently)
So.. PRAISE GOD for fun photo moments too! Really, every photo we see from the U.S. is an encouragement, but also a reminder that we were not there. So being IN some fun photos is yet another reason to PRAISE GOD!
