I had a successful career as a teacher and a senior level nonprofit executive. Since retiring, I have been assisting my aging parents. I am active as a volunteer at the Billy Graham Training Center in Asheville, NC. I love to read, play Mahjongg, play brain games on my tablet and swim (which is my real love). I love the Lord and am active in my church. I try each day to live out 2 Corinthians 3:3–“clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”
When suddenly I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 60, signs along the way in my life became clear. My faith, independence, and fearlessness in life were threatened. You are invited to share my struggles and find the Hope I have. My book, Fearless, is how I worked through various trials and tribulations to find the fearless spirit I thought I lost. I give God all the glory for never giving up on me!
I read a recent article in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s magazine, Momentum. One of the articles about resiliency, shared a story about a young man who said MS meant Man Stud. Well, I couldn’t be a man stud so my definition of MS is Made Strong!
Why? Because when I am weak, God is strong! It is not by my might or my power it is by His Spirit! As I rest in His loving arms, He gives me the strength and courage to live strong!!
Before I moved to North Carolina, my parents kept asking how I was. I think they thought that now that I was diagnosed that I would immediately end up in a wheelchair. When I arrived, the understood that I was fine! But fine has many meanings. Here is what it means to be fine and have an incurable, chronic disease.
Jo Ann Maxwell 