Hello Beautiful People… Life is good and I hope this message finds you happy and healthy… I just finished reading Christopher Reeves’ book, “Still Me”–written after his 1995 accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down… Several thing about this book struck me and I’d like to share a few… After his accident, his wife, Dana, came into his room… during a time of discouragement, he said, “Maybe we should let me go… save everyone a lot of trouble.”… she responded… “You’re still you, and I love you”… He goes on to talk about their love still being there… unconditional… accepting each new challenge… growing as they change and their relationship changes… their love grows stronger in his time of greatest weakness… He also talks about friends being there for him… an outpouring of love and support… people believing in him in moments when he struggled to believe in himself… and he touches on God being there… at one point he says, “I have to develop a relationship with God, right now, otherwise I’m lost.” He goes on to say… He doesn’t believe that God makes these things happen, but where God comes in, where grace enters, is in the strength you find to deal with it… the last thing he says about God is he believes that the comment that God is love is literally true…
I’ve thought about his inspirational story and about others who have faced great change… overwhelming challenges… heartaches… uncertainties in their lives… I’ve thought about the times Ron and I have been discouraged… at a crossroads… times of weakness and fear…
The one thing that has been true… the one thing that has been real and constant in my life is love… love for each other… not trying to change the other person, but really unconditionally loving the uniqueness each of us brings to our relationships… love from others… love from our relationship with Christ that sustains us… love that listens… love that encourages… love that is willing to go through the tough times… love that is a daily commitment… love that is reckless… love that builds others up and is unselfish… as I think about my life and the legacy I will leave behind… I pray that it will include that kind of love.