Wednesday, April 10, 2019

A WILL...A WAY


Michael, 
Benjamin Disraeli said, 
"The legacy of heroes 
is the memory of a great name
and the inheritance of a great example".
I believe that, don't you?

Michael has always been my hero...well, for the first few weeks after I'd met him he failed the test.  I was not his first choice; he wanted to date my sister...she was gorgeous.  My mother stepped in and said she was too young but he could ask her older sister.  I gagged at that...was I the Leah compared to Rachel?  Good grief, mother!!!  He caved and asked the older one...me and I accepted.  Tell you what...he was so handsome it hurt.  Sweet, too.  He knew how to win the parents over...bringing over fat, juicy steaks for my dad (master chef w/steaks) to cook and then he would play cards or dominoes with them while I was out w/someone else.  He won.

I loved his name...Michael Beall.  I decided early on that I wanted to be Mrs. Michael Beall.  It was and is a great name.

My hero and I have always wanted to set a good example...to have a life story that would influence others in a positive way.  We could not have imagined what it was to be.

I decided we should have a motto...you can be sure that was the last thing M wanted...a motto?  Oh please, Vasca.  Why do we need a motto?  Well, just because...we do and I know the perfect one!

The old Army Recruitment as was on TV regularly and I adopted it for the two of us.  I just learned a bit about that ad today...a group of advertising biggies selected the top 100 ads for the 20th Century and the army ad came in at #18.  

You possibly recall: BE ALL YOU CAN BE...right?  Well, it's said it remade the army for the good.  Since our name is BE-ALL I now tell people when they ask my/our name...
"It's BeAll...BE ALL we/I can be...you know like the army ad...we want to be all be can be for God."
People seem to sort of take to it and they think it's a good thing.  

Well, that's what the two of us have tried to be, to do.  We're both dedicated to transparency and what you see is what we are...no pretense. 

Our life together has been a fascinating story...to us.  From start to finish...my dad told Michael just after our marriage vows, "Mike, you take care of my girl".  Mike did a most admirable job of it, too.
Of course, not all was smooth sailing but we did our best.

Someone asked me last week how we maintained such a good marriage.  I said we worked at it all the time.  Each of us gave it 100%, we communicated, had the same focus, gave our keys to God and He was our pilot, we kept our commitment all the way.  We had bumps and such but we worked out the lumps...you know, like good gravy...smooth.  We were sort of smooth.

What I wanted and I think Michael would agree...was to be an example of what God does for people, how He changes lives.  I don't make resolutions at New Year's but I did make up my mind to leave each one I meet feeling better, a bit happier, a bit more positive...and never leave w/o a big smile for them.  I just want to be a good representative for God.  

Albert Camus wrote, "If, after all, men cannot always make history have meaning, they can always act so that their own lives have one."

If M and I had not given God our keys, our life's story would be quite different...I think.  I feel sometimes like the writer John in John 21:25 about so many things to write.  At times I wonder if people doubt some of our stories...they're very amazing.  Michael has been presented to a king. we've both been in the presence of royalty.  

We've been to "those far away places with the strange sounding names, far away over the seas.  
Those strange sounding places I've been reading about w/those books that I took from the shelf."
We've been there...Greece, Holland, Germany, China, Switzerland, Austria, France.  M's been w/o me to Italy, Turkey, Viet Nam, Japan and Korea.  We would never have dream about such.

I would hope our story would live on through our friends and family...live on in a positive way so that people would not forget but remember what we stood for.  God had a plan for us and I like thinking He isn't finished just yet.  He's in control all the way.

As my sweet one says, "Vasca, we're in the fourth quarter"...and he's absolutely correct.  His physical well being is all downhill...that's the way Parkinson's works.  I miss our hours of talking with each other...it doesn't work like that these days.  He says, "Vasca, you don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?"  He looks straight into my eyes as he says it and he knows, he knows.  So I answer, "No, I don't".  I smile, he smiles and it's all okay...we both get it and yes, it's okay.

Do I ever break down, fall apart?  Oh, don't you know it but not so often as I did last year.   I did fall apart a couple of nights ago and let my tears fall as long as they wanted.  But in the midst of the tears, something hit me.  

"I will not be shaken; for He is right beside me".  I had not given attention to Psalms 16:8.

Trust me now...that is in my heart/my mind when I go to bed, when I wake during the night, when I get out of bed each morning and many times each day.  Right now, while writing this...many times! 

Our story is still being written; with a few tears but knowing this.  My sweet angel, Michael, has been one magnificent Godly man who still has a will to serve.  How long will he find a way is unknown but I do know he is ready to go...he tells me so and I know he will be a most happy man.

Me?  I'm doing my best...i know I can make it through anything...Michael is one huge example and he knows me as a loving, patient, graceful lady, his partner all the way.  I have a lot to live up to - he thinks very highly of me.  You already know what I think of him...not enough words.

Besides, I must BE ALL that I can be...for God.  Yes, I will stand tall & I will not be shaken...
God has this.

From my thankful, happy heart...to yours,
Vasca 








2 comments:

  1. Vasca, Do know you two are so dearly loved, and even though my pain is not as deep and wide as your's, I hurt and mourn with you over the deterioration this awful disease has caused to a man so admired and respected as Michael "The Older" is to so many.

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  2. Young man, I so know that...M has impacted so many; I couldn't count all those. When you see such a man crumbling away it is heartbreaking and yet...all of us know where he is headed and that's a most happy ending to such a giant's earthly life. God blest so many when M was born. You know he was baptized twice; once in his mother's womb and again when he was just becoming a teen. He is so full of God that I wouldn't be shocked if he should outlast me! He still wants somehow to serve. Imagine! Thank you so much for your kind words, your loving friendship that goes on and on.

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