So, there's this lady I know.

She's something else.

She's got the brightest eyes you've ever seen.  They're filled with light and love and they draw others to her warmth. 

Her face is covered with a smile.....it stretches from one end to the other......and, no matter what, you can always find it there. 

She's one of those people who makes all those around her feel dear.......like they're quite possibly the most loved person ever to be born.  She'll force you to remember her by the way you feel in her presence.....it is a gift that few possess in this old, selfish world. 

When she walks into a room, it lights up with the brilliance of her cheerfulness and laughter.... her joy is contagious.  You can't help but be happy when she is near. 

Children are drawn to her like bees to honey.  Yes, even little children can discern that she is something extra special.  Memories of her will follow them to the end of their days. 

She carries a positive attitude around like a handbag and an enthusiastic disposition is her companion wherever she goes. 

Kind words flow from her mouth like a fountain.  Her tongue is used for good things. 

She's full of hope, love, and peace......her life's branches are heavy with fruits of the Spirit. 

She exhibits faith in God in every circumstance.....so much that it causes those around her to sit up and take notice.  She lives out a confidence that is hard to ignore.....a confidence that God will take care of her in all situations.  She is a living example of what it means to walk by faith for all who are privileged to watch. 

She is one of those people who touches lives and inspires many.  The ripples of her life travel out farther than she knows and the echoes of her influence are heard at great distances. 

If God were to have a list of those who most faithfully point others to Him by the way they live out their days.......she would surely be near the top.  He couldn't ask for a more unswerving witness on His behalf.      

You wouldn't think it, but this lady that I know has cancer. 

She's trudging through the 19th year of tests, scans, blood work, appointments, chemotherapy, surgery. 

She's likely spent more days in hospitals and doctor's offices than all of us combined. 

For 31 years, she faithfully reported for duty at her post as a fifth grade math teacher........many of those years with cancer in tow.  Even though she didn't always feel like it, she was there doing what she was gifted to do....loving children and influencing future generations.....until the day she retired.

The treatments.  The nausea.  

Good reports.  Bad reports. 

Good days.  Not so good days.

The ups.  The downs.

Almost twenty years of the dizzy circling that cancer brings and yet she remains straight and strong and true......and all of the weight that she carries along her uneven path never slows her pace of encouraging others.

It would be the natural reaction to curl into a ball or retreat to the corner of self pity, but she demonstrates every day what it is to get up, put on a smile, strap on the promises of God, and ask Him, who goes before her, to smooth a way in the rough path.  She holds onto those promises with all her might and He has kept them.....every one. 

It was my family's privilege and blessing to have Camie Heard teach both of our children before she retired.  She is a remarkable woman.  There aren't many people who could face the daily, menacing struggles that she's faced for almost two decades and do it so gracefully......and with an influence so beautiful that it must fill God's heart to overflowing. 

She is so faithful to Him.  And He is so faithful to her. 

Today is her birthday. 

The Lord did a good thing for us when He created her.

She is so very loved.