bravery

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I haven't been to church in the past two weeks because I can't bear the thought of Ruth Anna not being across the aisle from me. My whole life she has been there. And now she's gone.

When I was 13, Ruth Anna and her husband Ben loaded up myself and two of their grandsons and off we went on a road trip to Iowa. Once there, they dropped me off at my grandparents' house--my second home.  While I was fishing and playing cards and enjoying my vacation, Ben and Ruth Anna were also visiting one of their second homes--among the Mesquakie Indians.

Ruth Anna wasn't just an Indian brave; her whole life says bravery to me. How else do you explain her willingness to take three teenagers on a road trip at the age of 70? Her lifelong commitment to serving others? The adventurous spirit that led her to take up ice skating late in life? Even when her eyesight began to fail, she didn't let it stop her. She had spent a lifetime holding Ben's hand, so it was nothing new to let him guide and protect her, which in no way took away from her courage.

At her memorial service, Pastor Dan shared a story about the time her house was robbed while she was in the bathroom. As she heard people packing up her belongings, she couldn't get these words out of her head: "How can I help you? How can I help?" Anyone who knew Ruth Anna would nod their heads at this story, because that is just how committed she was to serving others. "I wish I had her faith," Dan finished. Me too. Because her faith made her brave.

EMBRACE BRAVERY.


Watching an interview with Lisa Bevere, author of Girls with Swords, on Life Today.    

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