ValueSpeak
A Weekly Column
By Joseph Walker
A WONDERFUL
You probably don’t know Mike. But if you’re lucky, you may know someone
like him.
Mike is a good and honorable man. His best friend describes him as “a man of
faith” who “values family and friends.”
“Mike is a man I can trust,” the friend said, “one
with whom I can share my most guarded feelings or fears, knowing that he will
offer a confidential ear or a helping hand.”
Mike’s wife, Charlene, describes her husband as “a
giver. If he sees a need, he wants to
help.” His brother, George, calls him
“humble and quiet.” He even regrets “the
times I punched my humble and quiet brother in the nose. He never really deserved it.” Mike’s daughter, Hanna, remembers getting up
for school at
And Hanna’s husband, Tracy, described his
father-in-law this way: “Mike is the kind of man who, when you’re around him,
makes you want to be a better person . . . His motives are pure and his desires
are selfless. I have often wondered
whether or not I could become a loving husband and father as he is. I suppose it is a standard that will
challenge me all my life.”
Mike isn’t the type to be out front leading or
lecturing or sermonizing or telling others what to do. But he’s the type that people are drawn to
because of his quiet faith, his powerful example, and his unquestioned loyalty
and love.
Today Charlene and other family members and
friends are drawn to a hospital room in
But as challenging as all of this is for Mike
physically, the hardest part for him is being a receiver. As Charlene said, Mike is a giver. It’s not in his nature to be helpless or
taken care of. He has always been the
one who provides for others and responds to their needs. But now circumstances beyond his control have
made him needy, and those for whom he has cared in the past are taking
advantage of the opportunity to care for him and his family.
“It’s been amazing,” Charlene said. “Whenever we get on the verge of
discouragement and despair, someone will come along and bless us with
kindness. Co-workers
donating their sick days so I can spend more time with Mike. Others providing us with gas cards to help defray the expense of so
many trips to the hospital.
Friends calling and praying with us on the phone and in person – oh, how
we have been strengthened by those prayers!”
Recently Mike celebrated his birthday in the
hospital. It wasn’t much of a birthday,
to be honest. The doctor had delivered
some discouraging news, and then followed that up with a stern lecture to
Charlene to keep Mike’s spirits up. But
Mike and Charlene refused to be discouraged by the cancer or the complications
or the lectures. Instead they focused on
the many kindnesses that had been offered, from the many prayers that had been
offered in their behalf to the nurses who came into Mike’s room to sing “Happy
Birthday.” Later that night he and
Charlene stood at the window of his hospital room and watched as a fireworks
display erupted over a nearby stadium – fireworks that seemed to be especially
meant for them.
“Sometimes I feel like George Bailey in ‘It’s a
Wonderful Life,’” he said. “For the
first time in my life I’m in a situation that I can’t fix, and it’s humbling to
have everyone we know – and a lot of people we don’t know – rallying around us
to help us through it.”
The couple stood silently for a moment, basking in
the explosive glow of cascading fireworks and in the compassionate, ongoing
service of family and friends.
“Even after everything we’ve been through these
past weeks,” he said, quietly, “it really is a wonderful life.”
# # #
— © Joseph Walker
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