In April of 2011 I left work early to meet my husband at the neurologist’s office. This was his second or third visit with him to figure out what was causing the muscle weakness and cramps in his leg, back pain, and shoulder twitching he was experiencing. After sitting in the waiting room for two hours, we finally got to talk to the doctor. He looked us in the face and said that all signs of the tests he had performed were pointing to some kind of motor neuron disease. We had done some research on this before we came because he had mentioned this to my husband when he called the week before. We, of course, had several questions. The doctor couldn’t really tell us much, but said that it looked like it was mostly affecting the lumbar region and could be Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. We asked what we could do. He simply said to, “Come back in three to six months and we’ll see if you have lost any strength.” We let him know we would be seeking another opinion.
We walked out to the parking lot in complete silence not knowing what to say to the other. I kissed my husband as he got into his truck. He headed home, but I had to stop by Wal-Mart to pick up some things for Easter. I turned out of the clinic and headed up 20th Street to my destination. As I approached Wal-Mart, my phone rang. It was my mother-in-law calling to find out what we were told at the doctor’s office. I pulled into the parking lot and answered my phone. I left the car running as a talked to her to let her know what we had been told. I was pretty much in a state of shock. When I hung up my phone, I noticed the song playing on the radio. It told me, “God gave me you for the ups and downs. God gave me you for the days of doubts.” It was right then that I declared that God would not allow ALS to take my husband.
That weekend my mother-in-law came down to visit us and do some shopping. We were walking around Bealls as I was telling her what had happened when I got off the phone with her. Just then over the speakers in Bealls a very Christian song in a very secular place could be heard singing, “God gave me you for the ups and downs. God gave me you for the days of doubt.” He confirmed it once again. This was before the mainstream Blake Shelton version came out, so it was very much a Christian song. I also heard the song on the Disney Channel a few weeks later while my kids were watching cartoons. Any time I would start to doubt, God was there to remind me that He had given Tad to me. This disease may eventually take my husband, but we are not going to give up.
The Sunday Girl 