Yesterday was the birthday of a dear friend, Val, who passed away this spring after a three year battle with cancer. Val and I met when my middle child and her youngest were in pre-school together. They are now in their junior year of High School.
Val was a light in many people’s lives, including mine. When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2017, she showed up at my door with a Sunshine Box filled with encouraging words from her Girl Scout Troop. Val was just that, a ray of sunshine, from her smile and sweet, calming voice to her selfless acts of love; she scattered sunshine and love into hearts all around town.
Val and I were more acquaintances through the years until she reached out and shared her diagnosis with me. We went on a walk together where she opened up and let me in behind the surface of what she was going through. At the end of our walk we prayed together, and we came to see that our faith in God united us. From that walk on, our faith in God was the foundation of our friendship. Prayer was the core of our conversations. Val’s faith was rich and deep, and her love for God, her husband and two children, were the strength behind her warrior’s heart.
Val’s battle was long and challenging, yet she continued to shine the light of love to everyone who was beside her, from her family and friends to the doctors and nurses who cared for her. Val’s love reflected the heart of Jesus, as she was more focused on those who were beside her than on herself. She didn’t allow her circumstances to dictate her wellness, she chose to live well, and live out love, in spite of her circumstances.
The last time I visited with Val she was sleeping. Rather than trying to wake her, I sat on the side of the bed beside her and prayed over her and her family. When I left, I held her hand and whispered in her ear, “God bless you, Val. May His peace be with you.” Unexpectedly Val whispered something back to me. Although I couldn’t make it out, knowing her she was saying, “and with you too.”
Val was a selfless soul who found life in Jesus, and in loving others. Her joy was evident in her radiant smile and shining blue eyes. Having to see Val have to go to heaven to heal is hard to accept. Yet in her passing, I saw something beautiful, all the love she shared became visible as the church couldn’t hold all the people who came to celebrate her life. When I looked around at all the people who came to honor Val’s life, I saw that Val’s life, and love, made a positive impact in so many lives. She scattered seeds of love, and that love grew in other people’s hearts. Val planted gardens of love in our community, and love will continue to grow and be harvest here because she chose to live a life grounded in God’s love.
Witnessing the love Val shared become visible was powerful and made me see it isn’t what we get in life that matters, but what we give. And the greatest gift we can give is love, which can grow in the hearts of others.
I invite you to join me today to…
pause. breathe. pray.™
May Val’s life inspire us to use our time, energy and resources, as she did, to plants seeds of love into the hearts of others through our words and our actions. So when our time comes to meet our maker, instead of harvesting a lot of things in this life, instead may the harvest we leave behind for others to gather be from the seeds of God’s love we have scattered into the hearts of others each day, just as Val did.
With love and hope,
Shawn
This was approved by Val’s family for me to share, and can be found in the 2023 Autumn Issue of Our Story Magazine HERE.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
- Matthew 9:37-38 ESV