Good morning…
Yesterday my friend and I went to see the movie Bonhoeffer. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, a theologian, and an anti-Nazi dissident who was executed by the Nazis in 1945 just two weeks before the war ended. Chronicled in his many books and expressed in his heroic actions, Bonhoeffer’s life of faith was extraordinary.
On our car ride home, my friend asked, “In your lifetime, who is a person you know that has demonstrated extraordinary faith?”
My quick response was effortless. “Audrey DeShetler.”
Throughout her lifetime, I have watched Audrey and her parents, Ben and Jennifer, turn their strong faith into action again and again and again. At age five and a half, Audrey dressed like Superwoman on the Halloween night that her extreme leg pain became debilitating. By the end of that hard week, she was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma. Over the years, Audrey has exhibited the grit and the inner strength of a Superwoman of faith.
Our Northside Church family has been praying diligently for Audrey most every Sunday since she was diagnosed. Fourteen years of heartfelt prayer. Audrey has endured treatment after treatment, relapse after relapse, experimental procedure after experimental procedure. Now Audrey DeShetler is nineteen years old. She is absolutely loving her freshman year at Notre Dame. Amazing friends. A good football team. A topnotch education. Fighting through serious lung issues and using a scooter to get around, Audrey is relentless in her pursuit of a full, fruitful life.
Faith is very important to Audrey and to her family. The faith community at Notre Dame is what made her fall in love with the school on her first college visit. The DeShetler family has chosen to trust God at every twist and turn on this harrowing cancer journey, with every awful challenge, in the darkest of hours.
This past month has been fun for me, receiving through Jennifer the videos of Audrey’s awe at her first midwestern snow storms. (Large gorgeous flakes filling the blustery air made me think of watching the snow falling outside my own bedroom window as I grew up in Ohio.) And the photos Audrey chooses to share reveal just how much her faith in God is essential to her daily experience.
“It isn’t troubles that make saints, but their response to it,” writes Elizabeth Elliot.
Bonhoeffer developed strong faith in God through immense, extreme suffering. Audrey and her family have chosen to do the same. There are many different wars raging inside and around us, and all of us face troubles. I authentically admire the response of Audrey DeShetler, as I have witnessed God’s Spirit repeatedly rising up to empower her feisty ninety-two pounds.
Don’t run from tests and hardships, brothers and sisters. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line—mature, complete, and wanting nothing (James 1:2-4, VOICE).
If you were asked the same question – “In your lifetime, who is a person you know that has demonstrated extraordinary faith?” – how might you respond?
…Sue…
P.S. If you would like to learn more about Audrey’s courageous journey, told in her very own words, take time to revisit our blog post from February 2023, Audrey Tells Her Cancer Story.
