Later that evening, after Ken helped Joni into bed, he found himself thinking about Montana and what he was missing.  The guys were probably sitting around after dinner and reflecting on the day's fishing.  Ken looked at his watch.  It was late, but he decided to take a few minutes before bed to jot and e-mail to his good friend Chris Leech, who was one of the leaders of the fly-fishing trip.

            "Chris..."Ken typed, "you're my brother in Christ, an outfitter, the quintessential mountain man.  You've literally gone face-to-face with grizzly bears in the wild.  You hunt with a longbow and can survive for weeks in the wilderness.  You're strong and tough, like a Navy Seal.  And I've always said, 'Chris, if I ever go to war, I want you in my foxhole.'  I say that because I know you are a warrior, that you are fearless, that you have skills with so many weapons, and that no matter what, I'd be able to count on you and you would have my back.

            "But over the last year, going through this cancer journey with Joni, I've changed my mind about who I would want in my foxhole.  As I've watched Joni and how she has carried herself, I've been so inspired, so impressed.  When it comes to cancer, we've gone to war against it, together.  And just recently it dawned on me.  Yeah, Chris Leech is tough.  As tough as they come.  But Joni is the real warrior.  Her courage.  The way she has modeled Christ through the worst of it, going through things that ever super-strong able-bodied men couldn't handle.

Where grace is improved to a considerable height, it will work a soul to sit down satisfied with the naked enjoyment of God without other things.

Have you had the incredible good fortune to spend time in the company of a spiritually mature woman?  Her presence, emanating from her gracious and fully open heart, simultaneously soothes and inspires.  People of both sexes long to be near her.  She is warm, intuitive, and radiates the peace of a person comfortable in her own skin.

            Her level of comfort with herself is disarming, allowing everyone around her to relax and be fully themselves, fully present in the moment.  She is not constantly reaching, doing, or wielding her power.  She doesn't need to.  She is awesomely at rest in the embodiment of herself.

            My grandmother Millie G. is this kind of woman.  When I spend time with her, I see the way I want to age, the direction I want to grow, the way I want to blossom spiritually, and the way I want to nurture those around me.

            She is complete in Christ.  She lacks nothing.  Her contentment is contagious, her peace palpable, and her influence divine.

p. 68

Read Ecclesiastes 3:9-22

            "That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-this is the gift of God."

Ecclesiastes 3:13

When the well-known British Methodist preacher William Sangster learned that he had progressive muscular atrophy and could not get well, he made four resolutions and kept them to the end: (1) I will never complain; (2) I will keep the home bright; (3) I will count my blessings; (4) I will try to turn it to gain.  This is the approach to life that Solomon wants us to take.

p. 235