The Three Most Influential People in my Life

The Three Most Influential People in my Life

#1 My Mom

To say that my mom is the most amazing person I know is an understatement. She is a strong, gracious, and a kindhearted woman. From a young age, I admired her strength. Whether she was a stay-at-home mom or a working mother, she balanced raising me and my siblings well. When times were difficult financially or situationally, she hid it easily behind her beautiful smile. When my mother lost our sister, Nicole, she was broken, and even though she remembers just going through the motions, I remember how she still cared for us, how she made time for us, and how she loved us. Additionally, my mom was the first person who taught me about grace. For as far back as I can remember, my mom helped me grasp the magnificent gospel, that Jesus forgives me and loves me. Grace was consistently on display throughout our home. We were disciplined, but we always knew how much we were loved. When I struggled with an eating disorder and depression, boys and more boys, and disobedience and rebellion, my mom sympathetically poured out tough love. Today, my mom shares her kind heart generously with her grandchildren. Oh, how her grandchildren adore her. She is soft and never stern. The gentle way she corrects my boys causes them to cherish her. She is genuinely interested and never distant. She listens to all their crazy stories, she learns all about their favorite characters and video games, and she constantly wants to know what is happening in their lives. She is giving and never overindulging. Her grandsons know to run to their grandma with requests. Whether it is for junk food, toys, activities, or attention, grandma is the person they all run to. I am beyond blessed. This mother of mine is a shining example of someone worth imitating.

#2 My Best Friend

My nearest and dearest friend, Marie, inspires me and so many others daily. As a mother to 5 (4 girls and 1 boy), she dedicates her day to her family. She juggles homeschooling, serving on the board at co-op, discipling her well-rounded children, aiding the new dance studio her 4 daughters attend, and ministering to the youth and to the women in the church. She does all of this while living the past year with breast cancer, a cancer that killed her mother and grandmother too young. She has undergone aggressive treatments and continues to undergo treatments to cure her. She has suffered through chemotherapy and its excruciating side effects, radiation, and surgery. Currently, she is on an oral chemo that is consistently pushing back the other surgeries she needs, is starting physical therapy for lymphedema, and is fighting to get into a clinical trial for immunotherapy. What makes her inspiring is not all the things she has done, is doing, or will do while fighting cancer. What makes her inspiring is where she gets her strength from. Shortly after diagnosis, she started a Facebook group to share her battle with cancer. She calls this group, “Blessing in the Battle.” From the beginning, she has received her strength from Jesus. She relies on her Savior every step of the way. She shares her belief that God is always good, there is purpose for the pain, and there is nothing outside of God’s control. She trusts the promises of God knowing He is always with her and will never forsake her. Her life is her testimony. She reminds me and countless others that He sees, He knows, and He understands. Through her battle, she has hope in the one who saves her in this life and in the next and she shares with us that same hope.

#3 Jesus

There is no person in all of history who has had a greater influence on the world more than Jesus. To some he is a great teacher, to some he is a good role model, to some he is a prophet, but to me and to a grand number of others throughout history, he is God. Almost 2000 years ago, Jesus secured my salvation and the salvation of all those who believe and will believe in him on the cross. The Son of God, slain before the foundation of the world, knowing my rebellion, knowing my sin, knowing my heart and thoughts and desires willingly took upon himself the wrath of God that was due to me. Defeating sin and death on that cross, he resurrected from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of God as mediator for his people. Not only does Jesus die a brutal and excruciating death for me, he also clothes me in righteousness. Because he has showered me in mercy, I long to love him with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind by living a life of gratitude. When Jesus rescued me, I didn’t realize how desperately I needed a savior. As long as I was basically good, better than some, then I was alright. He graciously showed me that compared to a holy, just, and righteous God, I was wicked. Knowing that one sin was enough to separate me from God and that no matter how I tried I could never live up to God’s standard, his law, drove me to my knees. Freed from the power of sin and shame, motivated by the power of the Spirit, I am being sanctified, becoming more and more like Jesus. What a comfort it is to know that someone loves me that much!