Amazing Myra Norwell

Myra, wife of Pastor Frank, doesn't appear in Living Between the Ditches: When God Makes No Sense, until chapter 7. Since there are only 12 chapters in the book, the reader might think she's a minor character. However, Myra plays a crucial role in the story. But for those of you who haven't read it, I'll leave you to decipher that clue.

Myra bonds with the reader immediately. What's not to like? She's warm, affectionate, a good listener, and compassionate. Myra had been Layton's second mother as he grew up, and now, he guessed, she was his only mother—at least, the only one who knew him (p. 83). But in his preoccupation with Brianne's surgery, Layton hadn't even asked about her when Pastor Frank and he were talking during the surgical procedure. Now he felt guilty.

Myra put Layton at ease. Not into the sport of keeping a record of wrongs, Myra waved his concerns away. She knew what it was like to be absorbed in one's own family problems, and as we find out, she's more than just sympathetic with Brianne's disease. Myra knows at a depth most of us don't care to reach. Her comfort is with the comfort we have received from God, who comforts us in our troubles (1 Cor. 1:4).

Myra, it seems, has become a good friend to Amy. As Myra and Amy leave the hospital for "a girl's night out," Layton's not sure how he feels about this friendship. Betrayed? Jealous? But as he waits for their return, he's got a bigger problem to ponder. Why have Myra's "ups and downs" seem to have brought her closer to God while in his own pain God has grown more distant?

Myra's counsel over the coming weeks would prove critical to Layton's coming to grips with his mother's Alzheimers and learning to relate to her in terms of her needs rather than his own. Serving his mother proves satisfying, even when she thinks Layton is his brother Kyle.

My favorite Myra lines are these:
"Saint Paul chose contentment whatever the circumstances. He didn't write that because he had a life of comfort and ease. He wrote the letter from prison, of all places! Paul had learned contentment because he first learned gratitude. Remember, he started his letter with, 'I thank my God ... Did you know,' Myra continued, 'that it's almost impossible to feel anxiety and gratefulness at the same time?" (p. 148)

I love that thought! May I dwell on it tonight as I go to sleep and as I wake to a new workday. Thank you, Myra, for helping me feel God's strength as my refuge (p. 148).