The Brave Choice to Love Others Well

By Nina Hundley

God's Brave Women - Nina's Story

When I was a young girl, my thoughts of bravery meant being prepared and facing danger, fighting down the face of evil. Even if you were scared, being brave was doing the right thing.

Maybe life is not so different now? Maybe it just looks different. But we are all still faced with the decisions to act on courage throughout our lives.

I’ve spent a lot of time considering what does it mean to be brave?

My story holds quite a bit of suffering. It can be hard to earn that badge of courage, to face life’s difficulties that arise, to name yourself as “brave.” I’ve discovered you’re either prepared to face the danger head on, or you’re sitting back in fear. You’re either doing the right thing or you’re avoiding anything that makes your knees quake.

In 2016, my family was given the news that my mom had terminal cancer. She was 58 and had been extremely healthy, so it came as a shock. Two weeks later, we moved her into our home and I became her primary caretaker, then found out I was pregnant.

I would certainly not call myself brave at this point, not for a second. The anxiety nearly consumed me. The mental toll taxed me. The despair nearly crushed me.

See, my mom was my very best friend. I don’t have any siblings and I’d already lost my dad to cancer just five years prior. Although I held many fears for my mom and what she would face, looking back on it, I honestly feared for myself. I could not bear the thought of losing my mom and becoming an orphan, even at an adult age.