One hundred years ago today, in Luverne, Minnesota, Sven and Marta Larsen gave birth to a baby girl who ended up becoming my mom. One hundred years ago childhood diseases that are treatable now could be fatal. My mom got one of those scary illnesses, but, obviously, she survived.

She survived growing up in the Depression. She survived having a brother who was a prisoner of war in World War 2. She survived when her husband wanted them to leave the only town she had ever lived in to go out west to be a fisherman. Being married to a commercial fisherman means being separated from your husband for long periods of time while he is out at sea, involved in what is often considered the most dangerous profession. Mom survived.

She survived caring for both of her parents during their battles with cancer. She survived the challenges of being a mom and the trials of having loved ones who struggled with addiction issues. She survived when, much to her surprise at age 44, more than 20 years after her last baby, she became pregnant again. She survived a serious heart attack when she was 50 years old and the death of her dearly loved husband when she was 60.

My mom was kind of little and not all that strong physically, but she was strong willed, strong when it came to being disciplined, and strong when it came to showing enduring, sacrificial love. She was strong in spirit, strong in her convictions and strong in her faith in the Lord. She was an example of how God can give us strength that is beyond ourselves.

When she came to the end of her life she was dying but in a way she was still surviving and living. The day before she died somebody from church visited her in the hospital and encouraged her to hold on, “Craig needs you.” Mom’s reply was, “No, Craig doesn’t need me. God will be with him. He’ll be fine.” The next day some other people from church were visiting her in the hospital and I was there as well. They said they’d come by and see her the next day. Her calm, confident response was, “I don’t think I’ll be here.” Three hours later she died.

“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from he Lord. We live by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:6-7). By faith in Christ, because of God’s amazing grace, we survive, we thrive, we overcome. We live with hope and confidence because of the promises of God. I’m thankful for the one who was born 100 years ago today who survived by trusting the promises of God, and passed on the good news of the promises to me.