Hold on Despite Your Health

Hello Everyone,

Remember a few weeks ago when I talked about my father's side of the family, while this week I'll be talking about my mother's side of the family, the Dittmers.

The only aspiring author on my Mother's side was my great grandma, Elsie Dittmer My middle name is Elsie after her, and her name means Pledged to God.

Elsie was born in Lonaconing, Maryland.  Her father was a coal miner in Maryland, but they latter moved to Michigan so they wouldn't get black lung, to escape the unsafe mining conditions, and avoid the risk of cave ins.  Elsie was raised in the Lutheran Church, just like me.  She helped run a program called Project Compassion, which gave clothing and food to people in need in Detroit. Her hobbies included sewing and writing, also like me. I have her old sewing machine and all of her sewing boxes. I am putting it to good use, just like she once did. She enjoyed writing, she mostly wrote about her life and her grandchildren. My mom read through one of Elsie's journals last week when she was helping me write this blog, and she couldn't stop laughing when Elsie mentioned her cousin and her. Elsie even won some awards for her writing and read one of her pieces in front of a large group.

In her early thirties Elsie was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was treated with radiation and lots of surgeries. Due to the little knowledge of cancer back then, she got radiation poisoning that ended up effecting parts of her neck and arm. She wasn't able to hold her head up or move much of her arm. She became unable to write due to the radiation. She had to recorded her stories and writing for her grandchildren on cassette tapes. I don't know how many cassette tapes she made but my mom owns 9 of them.  Even though Elsie faced significant physical problems she continued sewing, telling her stories through cassette recordings, and caring for her two daughters.  Elsie even continued to stay strong in her faith despite her health issues.  Elsie did the opposite of most people.  As her health and ability to use her arm declined she leaned on God, got to know him better, and found a source of strength and hope.  

    Now that I think about it I am kind of like her, I like sewing, writing, and I am a strong Christian. We both faced significant heath problems and instead of hating God, we both leaned into him. When you face trials lean on God before it's too late and when life is going good, continue to lean on him, that way you will be better prepared for rain. I am currently in drivers training, and one thing the instructor said was, "During rain the car is more likely to spin and loss control when going over puddles, be prepared and have a firm grip." If we keep our hands on God's word we can hold tightly on to him when troubles come and be better prepared for the journey to come. Though we can't control our heath, we can control wether or not we pray and read the bible. By doing these things you can stay strong when going through uncontrollable puddle, that you cannot avoid. My great grandma was a great example of this, I hope one day my grandchildren, and even my great grandchildren (good Lord willing) will think of me as a great example.