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Diane with her arms outstretched- soaring with the eagles!
A jump from a mountain- a leap into life!
(After loosing the love of her life, she finds the grace to soar to new heights in Jesus)
It is one thing to stand with both feet firmly on the ground and admire others as they float above dangling from the wing of a paraglider. It is another thing completely to go to the top of the mountain and actually take the leap out into the open air from 2,000ft for one’s self.
A mountain can be nothing more than an overgrown rock but a mountain can also be a metaphor for a host of other things. Jesus tells us that faith can cause a mountain to be picked up and tossed into the sea. Mountains can symbolize obstacles to be overcome. They can symbolize heights of achievement. Sometimes they represent fearsome challenges. Yet still, at other times, they are the most majestic representatives of God’s creation and are simply awe inspiring objects drawing us to worship the one who made both us and them.
As Diane stood atop the mountain last Sunday, I am sure she saw it as much more than a mere pile of rocks rising up from the valley floor far below. It was a perch from which she could both look back on a very difficult time of her life and also look forward to a future filled with much more life to come.
For a person to appreciate- I mean REALLY appreciate a mountaintop experience, they must know a little something about being down in the valley. Only the soul who has wrestled with deep darkness and come through the dark- seemingly endless tunnel, knows what it is to rejoice in the light on the other side.
In 1992 Diane finally got her husband Steve to go see a doctor about the involuntary muscle twitching that had been bothering him for a while. It had been manageable for a while and he didn’t think it was a big deal, but now, it was getting to the point where it simply had to be checked out. The doctor examined him and had a hunch but they sent him for some additional testing both in and out of state to make sure. It was now very clear that the hunch was in fact the case. Steve was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gherig’s Disease. People with ALS are usually expected to live 3 to 5 years.
It was a very hard blow. Things were just starting to be right in their life. They had gone through a very difficult time as a couple and had even been separated and on the verge of divorce. But they had gotten back together and were finally starting to really experience joy in their marriage. Their son had gone into a season of serious rebellion but was now his life was turning around.
Diane’s sister was the one who first told her she needed to give her heart to God and put her faith in Jesus as her Lord and Savior. She eventually went with her to church and knew that the Lord was opening the door for her to enter into a real and eternal relationship with Him if she would only accept His offer. She did and the change in her life was soon evident to everyone around her.
Before long, Steve also realized that he needed to make major changes in his own life and after a while he too accepted Jesus as his Lord and savior. Their son Danny had also rededicated his life to the Lord and Jesus began the process of rebuilding their family from the foundation up. It took time for them to see that Jesus needed to be more than just their Savior. He needed to be LORD in order to really be their Savior. They needed to love God but that also meant loving God’s word as faithful DOERS and not forgetful hearers only.
In time, the Lord had brought not only salvation, forgiveness, and love back into their home, He had also brought life itself back into the home.
Steve became bold and active in sharing his faith. His pastor was first and foremost his close friend but also his mentor and advisor. The family’s ship was righted and the sails filled with the winds of direction and purpose in God.
But now, it just seemed so incredibly wrong that this literal death sentence should be pronounced in the midst of this newfound life. It is one thing to die, after all, everyone dies. But it is another thing entirely to die from ALS. It kills slowly and methodically. It takes away life little by little- function by function. The disease was brutally murdering the man she had just started to really know as a new creature in Christ.
As stated before, the disease usually does its work in 3-5 years but Diane prayed that the Lord would give them as much time as possible and they actually had a full 10 years and 3 months after the initial diagnosis. In time Steve was forced to go to a wheel chair and eventually was entirely bed-ridden. The strong Virginian who had worked hard his whole life to provide for his family was now forced to let his wife carry the load. She carried the load of providing income for them to live on. She carried the load of lifting and physically caring for her husband. She carried the load of keeping the home.
But Diane says that the load did not get to her. She was able to carry with a strength that was beyond her own natural human resources. She describes long hours of conversation with Steve late into the night as they talked about life. They talked about death. They talked about heaven. They talked about the Bible. They talked about dreams and visions. Steve even talked about how he felt so blessed to have not been taken out by something sudden like a heart attack. In a miracle that is perhaps more amazing than healing itself, they talked about the treasure they had found in their relationship even as the disease ravaged his physical body. The enemy of their souls could do nothing to take away what they had found buried deep down in the faith they shared. They actually found peace, joy and a deeper love even in the midst of suffering.
The day came that they knew must come. It was a clear to all that the time was at hand for Steve to graduate from life to amazing life. The body doesn’t let go easily and the last day was a day filled with sadness, fear, and pain yet through it all, even then, faith prevailed. Diane looked at her husband and spoke the truth of God’s word, “To be absent from the body is to be with the Lord.” She kept repeating this until it was clear that the Lord had communicated the words beyond the limitations of the human mind- down to the depths of his spirit. Before long, the angels came, and Steve went to be with his Lord and Savior.
She realized that her words to Steve were indeed true. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Steve was with the Lord. She also came to see the truth of the scripture that has become her own 'Life verse', Philippians 1:21- "For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain."
Diane remained in their home and slept in the same bed for a full year after that. The home had been cleared out and she was prepared to move to a smaller apartment but she just couldn’t bear to leave. She just kept coming home and even cooked meals as if she were cooking for the whole family. Only those who know what it is to really grieve can understand how dark and lonely those days can be.
It was not until the Lord allowed her to have a dream or perhaps a vision one night that she acquired the wherewithal to leave that house and that bed. In her dream, she felt Steve give her a kiss on the lips and heard the words, “It’s going to be alright.” She didn’t know if it was a dream or vision but she knew it had been given to her from the Lord and she was able to take the next step in her life by moving to her condominium.
She later prayed that the Lord would direct her life into doing good works in the Kingdom of God. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God’s workmanship and we were created for good works that God had prepared in advance for us to do. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.” She didn’t want to miss the things God had in store for her and she earnestly asked the Lord to open the doors for her to be used for effective service in His kingdom.
Before long, the door opened for her to join a ministry team to go to Thailand where she was able to help minister to orphans and the poorest of the poor. The trip opened her eyes to see that this would not be her last missionary journey. One missions trip was not enough. She wanted to make herself available for even more.
Her Thai friend Malika encouraged her to consider training as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. She looked into it and it did not take long before she realized that teaching English was not just a joy in her life, it became a calling and a passion. She began teaching 2 evenings per week and just recently received her ESL certification through a training program offered in Anchorage.
She is planning to teach additional classes this fall and is scheduled for another missions trip to Thailand in December. She is dedicated to service in her church and not surprisingly tends to gravitate toward the international outreach side of service. She is learning some Thai and has told the Lord that she is available for service anywhere she is needed in the world both near and far.
She even praises the Lord for giving her buddy Sasha to care for. She didn’t want just ANY cat as a pet but she prayed specifically for the Lord to send her a pet that met her very strict list of requirements. Sasha is now about a year old and was exactly what she prayed for. She sees the cat as not only a companion and pet but also a reminder that the Lord Himself listens to her prayers and is concerned not just in the big things in life but is also interested in the things that some people may think are too trivial to be of concern to the creator and Lord of the universe.
Two weeks before she stood at the landing area at the base of Mt. Alyeska with her friend and WATCHED the paragliders soaring in the breeze overhead. At that time she was just talking about her desire to jump off that mountain and try that for herself. But last Sunday, she took the tram up the mountain. She watched her training video, suited up and she was hooked up to the paraglider wing and ready to go. She wasn’t just talking about it. She was doing it! She wasn’t dreaming about it. She was actually on the mountain and ready for takeoff.
She asked to say a prayer, not for safety really. She wasn’t afraid. She was praying for the salvation of the instructor! She was praying for the Lord to use this jump from the mountain as a launch pad for many other jumps in her life where she would be called on to step out and trust the Lord to lift her up and carry her.
Her friends and family of course thought she was crazy to do a parachute jump off of a mountain. For her, it would be crazy not to! In her own words, “Lord, I am on the backside of life. I want to make what time I have left count.” Her friends and family can now look at the pictures of the girl with her arms outstretched like the wings of an eagle, with a big grin on her face and can rightly ask themselves, “Who is the crazy one?” Is it crazy to face a gigantic, cold, stony mountain and not be intimidated by it? Is it crazy to walk right though it’s dark shadow and climb right up to the top? Is it crazy to use the mountain as your own platform from which you can clearly see the past and more importantly see the future?
Some may think Diane is crazy for jumping on her Harley Davidson and taking a spin just to feel the breeze and take in a little sun. They may think she is crazy for heading off to distant lands to minister God’s love to the poorest of the poor. They may think she is crazy for jumping off mountains or praying for the Lord to send her the perfect kitten. They may think she is crazy for standing by her man with a terminal illness day and night for 10 years. They may think anything they want….. She can’t hear them anyway! The Lord has made her as free as a bird and she is too busy jumping off mountains and soaring with Jesus to care if people think she is crazy or not. She just wants others to know the joy of soaring as well.
If you or someone you know is standing in the shadow of life’s giant mountains- please let Diane’s story be an encouragement to you. The Lord does not love Diane more than He loves you! Please, give the Lord your heart. Let Him show you how to use the mountains that now seem ready to crush you and turn them into a platform from which you can launch out and see things from the vantage point of God’s word!
The one the Lord sets free is free indeed! (John 8:36)
They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 41:30)
Oh, by the way---- As for Diane having to say good-by to Steve for a while, She knows very well that there is a great deal more of Steve in her future than she ever had with him in the past! The troubles of this puny existence on earth are simply not worthy to be compared with eternity with the Lord. She knows this full well. She knows Jesus and Steve knows Jesus. It’s like he said, “Every thing is going to be alright.” After all, her own life verse says it all, to live is Christ and to die is gain. There is no fear of death in Christ but there is no fear of life either! Dying to self opens the door to living in Christ and once there- the door is wide open to life!
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