AIKEN'S NOTES: I am so proud to share this next Guest Blogger submission with you all. Written by a courageous teenager who learned through her own experiences that God will never forsake her, the theme of this post reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: "Remember that when the world pushes you to your knees, you're in a perfect position to pray."
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When Times Get Tough
My mama used to have a saying: "When times get tough, the tough get going." When I was fifteen, she said those exact words to me the day she told me she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. They were words I would rely on for the next two years as I watched her battle her disease with strength and grace. When I was seventeen, my Mom lost her battle with cancer. I felt lost and alone! Even though I was lucky to have my dad and my two sisters who were always there to support me, I missed being able to count on my mom. She was the one I always went to with my problems and the one I always asked for advice. My rock was gone!A few months after my mother died, I was walking in the mall when I saw a framed copy of a poem that I had seen several times over the years but had never taken the time to read. I stopped, and I read a poem that could have easily been about me! It was about a man who questioned God for forsaking him during the most difficult periods of his life because during those times he only saw one set of footprints in the sand instead of the two sets of footprints he saw during happy times. God explained to him that during the hardest times of his life, he only saw one set of footprints because, during the difficult times, God was carrying him through.
That day, this poem stopped me in my tracks. I had been walking around moping and depressed, feeling sorry for myself and feeling lonely, but I came to realize that the opposite was true. I was not alone at all. Not ever. My true Rock would never leave me! God was right there with me, willing to hold my hand every step of the way if I would just ask him to.
I became more active in my church, and about two months later, a new friend gave me a copy of For Such a Time as This by Aiken Brown! I felt like I could totally relate to several of the characters in the book. I could relate to Summer because I have come to understand that God uses difficult times in our lives to make us stronger, but I could also relate to Scott because I felt like I had been where he was as far as questioning how terrible tragedies could happen to such good people. I learned though my own experience that despite losing my mother, I have so much to be thankful for! In many ways, losing my mother has helped me grow closer to God. It has made me focus on my faith and my relationship with Him. I think the same is true for the characters in For Such a Time as This. As Summer says, "sometimes God has to break you before he can remake you!" I have been remade, and I think my Mama would be proud!
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*Submitted by Katelynn, an eighteen-year-old young woman who helped care for her mother during her two year battle with breast cancer and now helps her father care for her two younger sisters.
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