By DAVID LANGERSFELD
Her family had come to America from Sweden. She had a
typical Scandinavian look... Long blond hair; blue
eyes; long slender legs; soft, blemish-free skin. She
was gorgeous - she was beautiful. In fact, a
professional international photographer in her
hometown thought she was so pretty that he used a
photograph of her to advertise his business.
But that was not her real beauty.
She was raised by some wonderful Christian parents and
had become a Christian at an early age. Integrity,
honesty and sweetness were just a few of her
characteristics. In fact, at her engagement party, her
sister, who knew her better than anyone, said that she
had never heard her tell a lie. All of her friends
said the same thing about her: She was the sweetest
girl they knew. She would never speak a harsh word
about anyone. Everyone loved to be around her.
A young man she met in her freshman year started
dating her and fell in love with her - both her
exterior photographic beauty and the wonderful godly
character of her inward beauty. She fell in love with
him and they spent every free moment they could with
each other over the next four years. They were
committed to each other and they believed in waiting
long before the "True Love Waits" Campaign ever
existed.
One week after they graduated from college, they were
married. They loved each other's company. They would
walk together, exercise together, go on bike rides
together, chaperone youth trips together - go to
movies, watch TV, eat pizza, travel - all the things
any normal couple would love to do together. They were
so much in love.
She taught school for a year and then became a
bookkeeper for a surgical supply company. One day,
while she was working, for no apparent reason, she
lost her balance and fell on the floor. She was later
able to get up and went to see a doctor that night. He
set her up to see a Neurologist.
The following day, it happened again. For no apparent
reason, she lost her balance and fell. This time,
though, she couldn't get up. She had lost all feeling
in her legs. They wouldn't move. Her husband had to
come to the office and pick her up in his arms and
carry her to the hospital. After six days in the
hospital, the doctor gave this beautiful, active young
lady the dreadful news. She had Multiple Sclerosis and
she would continue to deteriorate.
This young couple, who had now been married only 18
months - who loved to go everywhere together and do
everything together - would now face some new
challenges. All their future plans would change,
everyday life would change. They would change.
For the next 30 years, this young lady did
deteriorate. She had to take steroids (not the kind
athletes use, but anti-inflammatory steroids). Her
bones became brittle, breaking easily. Her face became
puffy and bloated and she could not even put on
make-up. Her body was a mess. She went from a walker,
to an electric scooter, to a wheelchair. She could no
longer feed herself, write her name, or control her
own bodily functions. She now had to have someone stay
with her 24 hours a day.
If that couple had not had the kind of committed love
that's based first on a personal relationship and a
commitment to Jesus Christ and second, on a love
that's based on a commitment to each other, the
marriage never would have lasted. In fact, a large
percentage of the marriages where a spouse has MS, the
other spouse leaves them. The other spouse won't stay
committed to the constant care and the continual
physical, psychological and mental changes that
continue to occur.
Please hear me carefully - those two people are not
heroes. They are not super-saints or super-Christians.
They will be the first to tell you that they are not
super Christians. Those two people are normal,
ordinary people, empowered by the Love of God and a
love for each other, to do what the world considers
beyond normal and extraordinary.
I know this for a fact - because that woman, that
beautiful young lady who will never walk again, who
can't even feed herself, is Lynda Langerfeld - my
wife. She's not a hero. I'm not a hero. We're children
of God, doing what the children of God are supposed to
do. Doing what His children are called to do. Doing
what God expects of every man and every woman who make
a vow before God on their wedding day.
Quite often, Hollywood will portray a "hero"
sacrificing his life for his "heroine" in a film. In
the world's eyes, he's a hero. In God's eyes, he's an
ordinary man making an extraordinary sacrifice that
every Christian who's committed to his spouse ought to
make. Sacrificial, Committed Love is the rule, not the
exception. We're not super-saints, we're not heroes
when we're being faithful and committed to our mates.
We're doing what God has called every husband and wife
to do since the beginning of time.
(c) David Langerfeld
[dlangerfeld@HarrisburgBaptist.org]
[www.harrisburgonline.org]
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