my sister sara is amazing. when she first got married she was still finishing college. she was determined not to let anything get in her way. she was going to finish no matter what obstacles she had to overcome. not long after she and her husband we married, her brother in law with a shady past decided to move in with them. they couldn't say much because the house belonged to their momma and she said he could live there. sara knew they had to get out of that environment. about that time her husband's grandmother became unable to live alone and take care of herself. she did not have the money to go to a nursing home so she needed someone to come and live with her and take care of her. at first it seemed like an answered prayer that could help sara and her husband get out of the house with her brother in law. they moved in with grandma and began taking care of her. sara was still taking a fulltime load at school and her husband was working with his dad's company laying pipe. his work was at best inconsistent and making very little. there is almost no income. nothing steady for sure. but steady on sara was going to school confident that the future would be worth the sacrifice. her husband decided to go to work for the railroad. although the hours were horrible, the money was good and it was steady work. they had to take out a school loan for him to attend the training school in chattanooga for 8 weeks. they were apart and without ANY income. during all this time, she continued taking care of her husband's grandmother and finally she finished school. she was going to be a teacher. they found out they are expecting their first baby. grandma's house had no room for a little one and it was time for them to buy a house and start a life of their own. they were very finacially responsible and bought a modest adorable new home. baby was born and she went on maternity leave. while on maternity leave her husband temporarily lost his job. of course at the time they did not know it was going to be temporary. but still, she was thinking financially resonsibly and she had been saving before her maternity leave and saved up enough house payments to make her house payment every month until the next school year would begin. it was because of this forethought and intuition that they made it. they would have sunk otherwise. after 6 weeks or so her husband was able to return to his job after they reviewed he had not been responsible a run away train.
now she is teaching fifth grade at a small elementary school in their county. her husband's stepmother has been ill for a long time. recently her kidneys and liver shut down. she is at home and on hospice. they were told she must be watched around the clock. sara's father in law is unable to stay up 24/7 to take care of his wife, so sara and the other dauughter in law commit to staying during the night time shifts to allow their father in law to get some rest. the mother in law is completely incapable of doing anything for herself and her father in law is too broke to hire any home health help. to allow her mother in law to die with dignity sara and her sister in law do the "changing" and "indecent" things to help their mother in law. all through this, she has a sick baby who cannot get rid of his cough. sara feels pulled in both directions to take care of her baby and her mother in law, since there is no one else really to do either. i am amazed at the way sara has been jesus to so many people and she doesn't even think she's done anything above the call of duty. she is an amazing woman and an amazing example of what it means to live a life of humility and service. sara, i love you and admire you and hope to be as passionate for people as you are someday (soon!) god bless you! please pray a prayer of strength for my sister and for their family as they go through this.
summer
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