Gitz: Saying Goodbye

Back in April I was a stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I wrote about it here.  In that post, I mentioned a blogger that I read frequently--you'll find her mentioned in my blog list-- Gitz. She is one of several Christian and chronic illness bloggers that I have been especially uplifted by over the past few years.

A few friends commented on how much they liked her blog and that post specifically. Her writing is beautiful, her godly attitude beyond inspiring. I sometimes read her posts in the morning and then sit for a while, challenged and a bit undone.

Her name is Sara--she has ankylosing spondylitis. And her complications from that disease have been severe.  So many times she has made me grateful when I felt bitter, made me think when I didn't want to. She never candy-coated her pain but it never got in the way of her joy. Though my illness is nothing compared to hers, she became a kind of model to me of what to do WHEN YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN AND SICK. How to be honest. How to have dignity. How to care for others and not be self- involved. How to be more like Jesus. Lofty goals--things to try for that I am still learning.

And Sara is going home. A friend is updating her blog now, while hospice cares for her. She placed this quote from Sara on her blog earlier:

 "... I have lived in this condo since I was 29 years old. I haven't left it, ventured out, even open a window in years. It's where I am, where I will always be, and yet when someone says the word 'home' I don't think here.

I don't think anywhere, really. I think who.

Because my home rests in the hearts of people...

 

My home is not here. It's not in a country or state or town or walls. It's in the hearts of the people I love.

And their home is in mine."
Homeward Bound

If you want to be grateful for what you have today, be uplifted, feel closer to God--if you're not afraid to shed a few tears--spend some time on Sara's blog. She is going home. She is not afraid. She chose joy all along the way, no matter what, and helped so many others learn to do the same.

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. Thank you for the joy, Sara.

For another beautiful tribute to Sara at another of my favorite blogs, see Pensieve: Choosing Joy, Dying Well and Crying with Hope.