“Surely you were created for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14)

I frequently write about my son, Matt. But today I’d like to tell you about my daughter. My sweet, smart and slightly sassy, Madison.

Madison, in many ways, is the glue that holds our family together. If I didn’t know that before, I certainly do now after Matt’s battle with cancer. I talk all the time about what that period taught me (and is teaching me) about my faith, God’s grace and how to be resilient in the face of adversity. But this time period taught me some precious lessons about my daughter as well.

In 2014, Madison began college majoring in nursing. She had a good aptitude for the sciences and a natural caregiving gift that I had seen come to life when my mother fell ill and eventually died several years before. By the time her brother was diagnosed with cancer in 2017, Madison was in her last year of school. As a student-athlete, she continued to attend classes, run track and make frequent visits to see her favorite patient.

While we desperately wanted to keep her life as “normal” as possible, we couldn’t help but cherish her visits. From the very beginning, she simply made things better. When Matt was in the hospital where sleep eluded us both, she would have her sweet friends deliver coffee to me in the mornings with a scripture of encouragement written on the lids.

When she could, she would travel the 90 miles to Columbia, set up post in Matt’s room to do her homework and command me down the hall or home to get some sleep. She would watch stupid Austin Powers movies with Matt. She would make him laugh. She would make him walk. She wouldn’t let him give up.

She wasn’t just the best big sister; she was the best nurse-in-training a family could ask for. She was tough as nails when it was appropriate and gentle and caring to each of us when we needed it.

Last week, I proudly marched up to the fifth floor of the hospital where Madison is now a nurse. When I arrived at the front desk, I was greeted by an older woman who said in a voice bigger than she was, “You’re Maaadddie’s mom? Oh, I love Maaaddie. She is the sweetest girl and a wonderful nurse.”

I am confident that both of these things are true. What a gift it has been to experience God’s gifting to her and to now see her bless the world with it.

“Surely you were created for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14)