I think of my life as a Christian as stepping stones to making me the person I am today. The first stone was the day my parents brought me to baptism and I had no clue as to what was happening. The second took place over my primary years in school attending VBS with migrant workers children in our country church, just a couple hundred feet from where I grew up. The third was the two years I spent in Conformation instruction studying Luther's Small Catechism from end to end.
The fourth stone had the first greatest impact on my life. While in college I was part of an adult Conformation Class in the church of my best friends Grandfather. He was the Pastor there and he ask Doris and I if we would join the class. This is when I first really felt that my religion was an important part of my life and that how I was living it was guided by God and my beliefs. The fifth stone was the day I married the love of my life and we exchanged our vows in God's presence. The sixth was the birth of our son, bringing him to be baptized and be raised a Christian and live accordingly. Life had its ups and downs and I continued going to church Sunday's, holidays and special occasions trying to live a life pleasing to God and thus strengthening the faith I learned about as a child. Then my mom got cancer and my faith was tested ... stone number seven. My prayers were asking that she not suffer and defeat the disease. My prayers were answered and now the power of prayer had a real meaning. Number eight was giving me the strength to come to terms with Alzheimer's disease. Dealing with the changes taking place in my husband was a challenge. It truly is "the long good-bye".
My faith helped me feel at ease when it was time to put my husband in God's hands. The family was blessed the night he passed as we saw the angel that took him to heaven. Number nine is still a work in progress and I look forward to number ten when I join my God in his heavenly home.
Toni Durben
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