Sometimes courage and faith is all you have. Today I met someone who is filled to the brim with both. Thanks to a lead from one of the members of our church, I went to the hospital to see her. This woman, thirty-years-young, has a debilitating and sometimes terrifying disease called Paramyotonia Congenita. She needs both courage and faith. And the minute you come into her presence she exudes both.

Paramyotonia Congenita is a disease that causes muscles to stiffen, periodic paralysis, and in severe cases, can even constrict the diaphragm and chest muscles so much that it can stop one’s breathing. That has happened to her far more times than she’d care to count. Doctors tell her this is the worst case they’ve ever seen. She’s been in and out of the hospital in life-threatening situations numerous times over the past couple of years. That’s why her life has been boiled down to the essentials: courage and faith.

She beautifully tells her story on her blog. She speaks of worrying about her young daughter, who also has a form of the disease. She feels badly that her parents’ lives have often been put on hold to care for her. She longs to be well and live what she calls a “normal” life. You can’t help but cheer for her every step of the way.

There are many things she’s lacking in life. But there are two things she has in spades: courage and faith. Very rarely have I heard someone with such a serious and unsettling disease speak with such calmness and conviction. Very rarely have I heard someone with such an uncertain future speak with such solid trust in her Savior. She told me that when she can’t do anything else, she prays. Some people just say that. I know for certain that when she prays she does so until her words don’t know what else to say. Then she puts the full weight of her faith on Jesus.

My problems pale in comparison when I sit in her presence. I learn from her that I need more courage and faith. And here’s what I know as a result of meeting this true hero:

• There is nothing this world can take from me
• There is nothing the Evil One can steal from me
• There is nothing my own stupidity can do to rob me of the One who gave His life for me

Courage and faith are essential in a life that is filled with uncertainty. That defines life for all of us. Some of us need more courage and faith than others, but we all need a measure of both.

What will you do to feed your courage and faith today?