For Carol

My precious sister in Christ went to be with Jesus this afternoon.

All that I ever knew of Carol was that she wanted to love and be loved.

When I was diagnosed with cancer, she was already fighting her own battle with health and in need of a liver transplant.

She came up to me one Sunday morning and told me, "Molly, I have told God that he can take me in your place, but to let you be healed. You need to live for your family!"

And I remember thinking at the time, "Oh Carol, you needn't to go the trouble, because God has already told me that I would be healed!"

But in these recent days, as she has actually become ill to the point of death, and died in the presence of friends and family, it has caused me to revisit her statement so many months ago.

What if that was part of "the deal"? Was her willingness to give her own life part of the reason I was healed? And even if it wasn't, how wonderfully sacrificial a gesture that she was willing to make on my behalf!

Thank you Carol. For your love. For your prayers. And for desiring to show Christlike sacrifice through your life.