The first gift I ever received from Sue Thomas was this little figurine of two gals sitting on a bench. She described that we would never be able to walk down the road or wash dishes together or work side by side chatting like I did with my other friends. Communication always needed to be face-to-face where she could see and read my lips.

Her silent world was complicated even further by the multiple sclerosis which often made her feel physically sick and caused episodes of double blurry vision that affected her lip reading ability.

Over the years as she progressively worsened, Sue spent much time sitting in her chair or resting in bed. The MS symptoms were unpredictable and she never knew how she would feel from one day to the next. Her balance was terrible and her hands and feet had become numb. She reached a point where there was really nothing that she could do to help herself.

She was by nature a high energy, ‘let’s get it done’ person, but when her Lord set her down in the chair with various pains and afflictions, she received it as a gift from Him.

She had fought against her deafness and wasted much precious time. It was only when she embraced it and trusted that God knew what He was doing that her deafness went from being her worst enemy to being her friend.

She knew from experience that it is in the silence that God speaks.

Through the journey of MS and then cancer, Sue learned to trust that her Lord knew what was best for her, to polish her and prepare her for everlasting life with Him.

On the other hand I am a perfectionistic firstborn, a trained nurse, and was Sue’s primary caregiver and travel companion for almost two decades. Many times I could not get my head wrapped around the multitude of things that needed to be done in order to keep moving forward and I would be frustrated to tears.

And then I would hear Sue calling me…while patting the arm of her chair.

“Honey, life’s too short! Come sit with me. All I want for you in Life is to have the joy of the Lord!”

I confess, usually my first response was to react. I had way too much to do to sit down! But there was a cry reverberating deep in my weary heart and I knew she was right.

Ultimately I needed to throw down my pride, lay down my burden and sit down at Jesus’ feet with Sue.

I’m so glad I did!