This site is lovingly dedicated to my dear friend, Linda Smith, who for over seven long years, battled a crippling condition called ALS also known as Lou Gehrig disease.
When I first met Linda in July of 2009, she was completely bedridden and unable to move any part of her body, save her eyes. Thankfully, modern technology gave her the ability to communicate via a computer calibrated to her eyes. And God gave her the ability to smile in the midst of suffering. Despite these unimaginable restrictions, Linda was still fully involved with her family; a husband and four young children, ages 4-13.
When we first met, I felt an immediate bond with her, for on some strange level, I understood what it was like to be helplessly trapped inside a body that did not function as it should. Linda's imprisonment was literal; mine was something else. When I honestly shared this with her, we both cried. Thus began an incredible journey of friendship and faith, of learning that true freedom comes from our Creator God and is born of the Spirit - from the inside out.
Looking at Linda, I was struck with the analogy of a butterfly helplessly trapped in a cocoon waiting, trusting, and hoping in the day when it would be released to fly. And with it, the growing realization that sometimes God allows very painful and restrictive events to happen in order to call forth His highest, our true indentities, the person we were meant to be before life and circumstances molded us into something different; something less. In the words of a Watermark song, "He gives us what's best, for what we thought was better". Many of the songs posted here were inspired by Linda's life of courage and grace.
In the 14 months that I knew Linda, I along with many others, caught glimpses of the amazing butterfly to be. And although we all prayed for healing and release here on earth, God chose to bring complete healing and to set her free in heaven. And so about a week before her 43rd birthday, Linda flew Home on the wings of Love.
You are loved and so missed sweet friend! Yet we rejoice that you are now where our souls all long to be; perfectly in the presence of the One who formed us and who loves us with an everlasting Love.
When I first met Linda in July of 2009, she was completely bedridden and unable to move any part of her body, save her eyes. Thankfully, modern technology gave her the ability to communicate via a computer calibrated to her eyes. And God gave her the ability to smile in the midst of suffering. Despite these unimaginable restrictions, Linda was still fully involved with her family; a husband and four young children, ages 4-13.
When we first met, I felt an immediate bond with her, for on some strange level, I understood what it was like to be helplessly trapped inside a body that did not function as it should. Linda's imprisonment was literal; mine was something else. When I honestly shared this with her, we both cried. Thus began an incredible journey of friendship and faith, of learning that true freedom comes from our Creator God and is born of the Spirit - from the inside out.
Looking at Linda, I was struck with the analogy of a butterfly helplessly trapped in a cocoon waiting, trusting, and hoping in the day when it would be released to fly. And with it, the growing realization that sometimes God allows very painful and restrictive events to happen in order to call forth His highest, our true indentities, the person we were meant to be before life and circumstances molded us into something different; something less. In the words of a Watermark song, "He gives us what's best, for what we thought was better". Many of the songs posted here were inspired by Linda's life of courage and grace.
In the 14 months that I knew Linda, I along with many others, caught glimpses of the amazing butterfly to be. And although we all prayed for healing and release here on earth, God chose to bring complete healing and to set her free in heaven. And so about a week before her 43rd birthday, Linda flew Home on the wings of Love.
You are loved and so missed sweet friend! Yet we rejoice that you are now where our souls all long to be; perfectly in the presence of the One who formed us and who loves us with an everlasting Love.
Such a beautiful post, Karen . . . I miss her so much. Can't help but wonderful if she's looking in on us sometimes from that great cloud. Oh how I'd love to catch a glimpse of that amazing butterfly once again!
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