Mrs. Junior

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 NIV

That title won’t make any sense to very many people, but she knows who she is. I wrote about her several months ago. Cancer is a tough opponent. She’s tough too, but she is in a fight. I want to encourage her.

When I first wrote about her several months ago, I asked anyone who may read this to make it rain prayer. Since it is now later in the year, maybe a nice blanket of snow can be the visual image, a brilliant white, undisturbed covering. I know everyone is busy. I know everyone has issues, some of them are really hard. I am not discounting any of that, I am just asking for more prayer.

Treatment for cancer almost does not make sense. If you accidentally pump a human body full of poison, they rush you to a hospital because it is bad for you. If you get cancer, you go to the hospital so they can pump poison into your body and hope it helps. I have watched several friends fight it. I stand amazed at it each time.

Some people collect things. She collects rose colored glasses. I have seen her literally find a half an ounce of hope when most people would have just given up. It really is impressive. One of her kids dialed 911 at a hotel once. To hear her describe it, the kid had a budding career in communication, he just made a mistake. I remember teasing him a bit about it later and said something about it not being a mistake since he did it on purpose. He just replied, “You can call it whatever, mom said it was a mistake.” The smirk on his face betrayed that theory. He got to see firemen.

I was out this past winter after a pretty good amount of snow had fallen. I have a snowblower and was helping people I knew who needed to dig out. I actually did not go to their house because she has two sons and a husband who are all a lot younger than me. I found out later that she shoveled the driveway so they could stay inside. She did not want them to get cold. (Mr. Junior was at work). Maybe that’s a mom thing.

Two of her sons are involved in sports. Her encouragement to them, “Look for ways to be kind!” Funny thing is they both actually do it. It takes a consistent effort to encourage someone to share kindness to get a kid to look outside of themself during a football game. But I have seen them both do it, even if it takes them out of a play.

She mentioned to me in the past that her frustration is not that she is going through it, but that people she lives around may not notice the fight in her. She wonders if it is making a difference. So, I asked two of her sons. Let’s call them Thing 1 and Thing 2. The oldest is not usually overly animated when I talk to him, a normal middle schooler. That changed at the question of “How would you describe what you are seeing in your mom?” Like a grown man his voice got more focused, “She is kind. She is loving. If you are down, no matter what - she picks you up”. Then he turned his intensity up a notch, “Without fail, non-stop and I mean without fail, she is non-stop! No matter how hard it is, she keeps going.” Thing 2 then stepped up, “She is kind, funny, loving and special. That’s how I would describe my mom.” I guess they are paying attention.

Then I asked my wife. She said “I would do anything for her. If its worst thing you can imagine, I would do it. Anything. She won’t ask, but I would do it.” Maybe I can encourage her to ask. Cancer treatment is rough because the foe it is fighting is rough. I know she is in pain. In the last week, she put together a sentence that is hard to forget, “Standing is bad, sitting is worse.” So, she walks because it is the least painful option. What do you do with that?

Jesus does not tell us we will have no burdens. Quite the opposite, He consistently tells us to bear each other’s burdens knowing we will have them. To do that we have to share them with each other. To do that we have to bring the best weapons we have, love, time and prayer.

What burden are you carrying?

Do you find it hard to ask people for help or to pray?

Challenge: Why do we do that? Virtually every person I know is glad to help when they see a need or if they are asked at times when they did not notice the need. Reach out to someone.

If you have time this week, please pray for Mrs. Junior, Mr. Junior, Thing 1, thing 2, and thing 3. Let’s give them a nice blanket of prayer. Thanks.

Rick L. Claiborn