From Greg Wolf, Mary Jo's Brother

Mary Jo is my little sister and I love her dearly. I don’t know how to even start with this blog but I felt compelled to write about faith. Mary Jo is a person of great faith. If you have read her blog she says things like “have a blessed day”, “God is good”, “you are loved” even the blog sight is maryjowolf-ibelieve. I’ll tell you what, I am also a person of faith as many of you who read this may be but do you have questions, do you have doubts about a loving God.

Do you ever think how can the God she believes in so strongly, the God that supposedly loves her so much – how can He allow this to happen, how can He just watch her suffer. He can do anything right? Mr. All Powerful!! So what’s the deal, does He even care? Why her? She does not deserve this? When is enough, ENOUGH!!

Mary Jo has been betrayed by those she loved unconditionally, abandoned by those she needed the most, devastated by the husband she loved, lost her home, lost her job, has been overwhelmed by unexpected disease, horribly mutilated by surgery, poisoned with chemicals that leave her sickened and helpless beyond anything that we can imagine. Left alone, alone in the depths of despair, crying until she has no tears, sleepless, pain filled and left with no ability to even think clearly, barely able to take care of even her most basic needs. And yet, she still believes. She still loves God. She not only remains committed to her faith but is growing in her relationship with God. How can we question her faith? How can we question the God she believes in. I can’t, I won’t - through her faith, my faith has been strengthened.

So when you hear Mary Jo say I believe – what do you think she means. I will speak for her but be assured that these words are from her heart:

I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He came to earth and gave his life for my sins, He is my Savior

I believe that Jesus died, that he rose from the tomb and that He lives today

I believe that the Bible is the Word of God given to us to teach us the way to live our lives

I believe that God knows me personally and listens to my prayers

I believe that only God knows everything, I can not know enough to question His purpose or His love

And now, I know what it means to lose everything, I know what it means to truly suffer. Yet, I still believe that God loves me and that great good can come from great suffering.

If you are reading this blog, maybe YOU are the great good that can come from this. Maybe this is the one thing that will wake you up and make you realize that your time is very limited and this life is your only opportunity. Do you know where you are with God? If you know my sister you know what a kind and loving person she is. You know how smart and talented, how generous and giving she is. You know that she always sees the best in every person and truly believes in their goodness. She sees people as God sees them with the ability to love without bias, prejudice or judgment. You also know that she believes with all that she is, in a loving God. She believes that Jesus Christ is her personal Savior and that even through her suffering God is with her and that somehow her ordeal is serving His purpose. If she can believe in the midst of this horrible trial, can you believe? Can you find your faith? God has not abandoned my sister, He has appointed her, knowing full well that her faith will see her through this and her love, hope and commitment to that faith will inspire others. Will you be inspired? Will you take this opportunity to start or grow your relationship with God? If you want to do something for my sister, if you want to give her suffering meaning – all you need to do is BELIEVE.