Yes, it’s that time again, when holiday meals and homemade pies entice us to stay at the table longer than we otherwise might.
With the holiday season in full effect, we typically celebrate it with wonderful home cooked meals. We gobble them up, ask for seconds, and then return for leftovers before we’re finally ready to call it a day.
There are so many, many gifts that life bestows, not just once in a while, here and there, but over and over again.
And the gift of grace is one them—especially when given from the heart of a child.
And that’s exactly what happens between rare disease sufferer, Samantha Lenik and her two children, Sienna, 7, and Kaelin, 9.
Samantha lives with late-onset Pompe disease—an chronic, incurable illness that causes progressive muscle weakness, especially in the legs and the trunk, including the muscles that control breathing. As the disorder progresses, breathing problems can lead to respiratory failure.
And her children “have asked Santa for ‘Mummy’s medicine’ this Christmas,” and they want nothing more than their mummy to get the treatment she desperately needs.
Samantha’s journey is committed to living a fuller life, a more enjoyable life—one where she would not miss her children on holidays, or any day for that matter.
Living in Grace
What does it mean to live in grace?
Does it allow us to fully experience and appreciate all that happens?
In time, gratitude may become part of our identity.
An identity that mirrors the graciousness of Samantha, who finds and focuses on the lighter side of living with Pompe:
“I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m not in a wheelchair, I don’t have to have breathing machine…”
Even in the darkest or most challenging experiences, struggling, reaching, and fighting for grace can bring hope.
