Marta is My Hero
Candy Tolbert
Marta is my hero. I met her several years ago when Mike and I were Single Adult Pastors in the Bay area. I liked her immediately and we became fast friends. Her laugh was infectious and it didn’t take long to see she demonstrated humility, servanthood, and wisdom beyond her young adult years.
One evening over dinner in our home she and her husband Mark began to share about their walk of faith. They spoke of Marta’s physical challenges and the reason why she walked with a slight limp and why her left hand was smaller and hung loosely at her side. Muscular Dystrophy was the culprit that robbed Marta of many normal childhood days. Now her heart was weak and getting weaker. Fatigue was debilitating and a long regiment of medication was part of Marta’s daily routine. In short, she was dying – slowly, inevitably.
Month after month I watched Marta’s life. Year after year I listened to her wisdom, and I loved and admired her. The day my husband dedicated her only child, I watched with wonder at her resilience. The pregnancy took a tremendous toll on her tiny, weak frame and a pace maker had to be inserted into her heart. Yet she never complained, never asked why. She simply set out to be the best wife and mom she could be for the rest of her life.
A week before Mother’s Day four years ago was the rest of Marta’s life. Her husband and five-year-old son returned home to a heart-wrenching discovery. My dear friend closed her eyes in this life and opened them in the presence of her Heavenly Father.
Had I asked permission to write about Marta, her humble spirit would have chided me for mentioning her. But I have done it anyway because of what I have seen in her life – or perhaps I should say Whom I have seen in her life.
God has always enjoyed watching men and women walk together, the young learning from the old. He let Joshua traipse up the mountain after Moses. He let Ruth tag along with Naomi. He let Timothy follow Paul around.
If you’re a young woman, look around the neighborhood of your life. Somewhere close by, there is an older, wiser one, who has been weathered by life and storm – seasoned by trials of waiting and hoping and trusting. Talk to them. Watch them. Emulate their faith and follow them as they follow Christ.
I love you Marta.