Inspiring friends

I want to share a story about a friend of mine from high school. Her name is Dana. Dana was raised Catholic, went to church every Sunday, believed in God all her life. As an adult, her kids were attending a preschool at a local church so they attended there on Sundays ("flew under the radar" - as she put it). She is a good person but as she says, she didn't always put God first in her life or even include God in her life on a daily basis. She had a life changing experience that has changed all that. Her story inspired me and I want to share parts of it with you (I hope I get it all correct). Last May, Dana got sick. At first it was diagnosed as the flu and a kidney infection (and dehydration) so they put her on an antibiotic, gave her fluids and sent her home. But after a couple more days, she was readmitted to the hospital with pneumonia, kidney failure and liver failure. The machines did 60% of her breathing for her. The doctors couldn't figure out why her body was shutting down, but gave her less than a 10% chance of surviving if she didn't have a complete blood transfusion immediately. After being in the hospital about 24 hours, she had 80 pages of "charts". She was moved to another hospital and the doctor there suspected that her symptoms were advanced stages of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever - (from a tick - despite the fact that nobody ever found a tick). He changed her medication and she began to recover. She spent 10-11 days in the hospital and lost 30 lbs in 2 weeks (and she's always been petite so she didn't have it to lose!). She spent several more weeks recovering at home. Through all of this, she was blessed her family and by a very supportive church who has loved her and prayed for her, brought meals, visited her, and created a testimony scrapbook for her. It has taught Dana to turn her life over to God and to believe and trust in Him for all things. It has taught her to view coincidences as God's little miracles. It has taught her to truly put God first. She has started attending a Bible study group at her church - despite the fact that she felt inadequately prepared to be there (didn't know where all the different books were and hadn't studied it much in her life). She has realized the power of prayer and the importance of prayer ... not quoting scripture or being perfect in her prayers, but in real, sincere, heart-felt prayer.

She shared all of this on a local tv show that focuses on faith promoting stories recently. She and I "chatted" online the night before her interview. She was so nervous. She has always hated public speaking, even doing class presentations back in high school made her nervous. But she said she was doing it with fear but with God. I am so inspired by her faith, her testimony of God and of prayer and the strength she has gained from putting God in her life daily and putting her trust in him.

I am so very grateful for the faith and testimonies of my friends and thankful for the inspiration their faith can be to me. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I hear the testimonies of other members of my church on a regular basis - during lessons or talks given at church (we don't have a paid clergy so we are all called on to teach and give talks), messages from visiting and home teachers, even talking with friends on a regular basis and I see their testimonies through the things I see them do, through the stories I hear of their famlies, etc. But I don't hear the testimonies of my friends from other faiths as often, probably because I am not around them as often (my area is very predominantly members of the LDS church) and I feel truly blessed to have heard Dana's story and testimony. As members of the LDS church, we believe in some things that other Christians do not believe in - the Book of Mormon as another testament of Christ, the blessing of eternal families through our temples, living prophets today on the earth and priesthood power to name a few. While I am willing to share those beliefs with anyone interested (feel free to ask me or visit http://www.lds.org/), I am grateful that despite our differences, we can all share our belief in God who loves each of us, our gratitude in our Savior Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us and in the power of prayer. I am grateful we can all feel His peace and love. I am grateful for my own testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Christ and how much I grow because of the testimonies of others. I am grateful for the testimonies of my friends because they lift me up, inspire me and help me be a better follower of Christ on a daily basis.

Thanks Dana for your friendship, your inspiration and for sharing your testimony and story with me! So glad we have facebook to get us back in touch. I didn't realize how much I've missed you until I heard your voice on that video!! I never would have survived that first year or two in NC without you! Love ya!