by Tim Smith
I strongly believe that God provides for the needs of those who love Him.
One of the mysteries of God’s plan is that He chooses to use us, people, to do His work here on earth. An all-powerful God should not need us, but for some reason, He does. As the gem of His creation, we are tasked to be His hands and feet as we serve our fellow man.
God’s plan also creates the unexplainable joy that comes through this service; those who serve are blessed just as those who receive the service. It is the simple gospel story put into practice: love your neighbor. It is profoundly simple, yet incredibly difficult. We are called to serve, to love, and to share our own stories of salvation.
We are also called to tell the stories of faith in action, the stories of people following the tug of the Holy Spirit that compels them to put His love into action and serve those in need.
A few weeks ago, David Boersma posted a brief story on his Facebook page, not something he does a lot. The story, which included a simple photo of beautiful, brightly colored flowers in a window box, was about his own bittersweet emotions. When David pulled into his driveway, he noticed the flowers, and he began to cry.
Flowers were Rachel’s thing. She loved flowers, and this was something she would have done.
Rachel Boersma, David’s wife, passed away on March 1.
The flowers in the window box were a gift from a friend, someone who understood the magnitude of David’s loss and simply wanted to show love and compassion in a tangible way. It inspired David to do something he rarely does: share it with his friends in a very public way. When God blesses us through people who love us, we often cannot keep it to ourselves. It reaches others, inspires others, and pays the blessing forward.
The Boersmas’ lives were turned upside down in October 2025 when Rachel was diagnosed with cancer. The prognosis was not good.
As I sat with David at his kitchen table, he began to lay out a story of love, compassion, and caring that he and Rachel experienced through the worst time in their lives.
It started with the emergency room doctor who discovered the cancer and knew the likely result. He prayed. He put aside his role as a doctor and prayed with Rachel and David.
As the doctor was leaving, a familiar face appeared at the door. The RN was a longtime friend who just happened to be on duty. When their friend heard their story, he got Rachel moved to the telemetry floor at Glenwood Hospital, where she would be under observation, and arranged a visit by oncologist, Dr. Tharwat Ghattas.
Dr. Ghattas was soft-spoken, kind, and understanding. He explained Rachel’s condition and how they could treat it. Rachel asked, “Can we beat this?” and he said, “No, but we can fight.”
David told me, “It was kind of clear from the beginning. No, this is not a fight you’re going to win.”
David said, “You’d have to know her personality. She wouldn’t take that. When we would interact with friends and they would ask what the doctor said, she would tell them, ‘We are going to fight. We got this,’ leaving out the part, ‘We can’t win.’”
Rachel would maintain this fighting spirit even when she was placed on hospice.
From the minute they got back home and Rachel’s condition was known, the community that surrounded them began to act. David began telling me a story that included the names of friends, neighbors, and relatives. Names of so many people I could not keep up writing them down, so I just stopped. I knew then that this story was bigger than a list of names.
Though David would be eager to acknowledge them all, I know there are those he failed to mention.
Rachel, David, and their son Wesley were immediately surrounded by a community that sought to make this unbearable situation bearable. These people didn’t send “get well soon” cards; they showed up. Cooking meals, cleaning the house, watering flowers, visiting and entertaining Wesley, and sitting with Rachel.
All so David could continue working.
The effort was turned into a mission. Meal trains and schedules to stay with Rachel and Wesley were set up online. These were not people who didn’t have lives and jobs of their own, yet they saw a need and did exactly what Jesus commanded us to do: put others first.
This is what communities built on faith can and will do.
Rachel, fighting to the end, lost her battle with cancer on March 1, leaving husband David; sons Aaron and Wesley; and three grandsons.
For David, this meant joining a club to which no one wants to be a member. Losing a spouse is a devastating event that many will experience. Losing them too early is especially heartbreaking. The love and support for him didn’t end with Rachel’s passing. It has continued, and David has found support where he never expected it—from complete strangers.
“A man named Johnny Pilgreen made a post on Facebook. We were not friends in life or on Facebook, but it showed up on my feed. It found me. It was titled ‘The Last Six Feet’ and had a picture of a fresh grave. I read it, and he was like, ‘I took my wife the last six feet.’ I responded to his post that I understand.”
Since then, David and Johnny have become friends.
“We stay in contact. We have a connection,” said David.
“I have purposely sought out other people. The lady who lives next door lost her husband six months ago, and my neighbor across the street lost her husband as well. We all went out to dinner not too long ago. It’s not a club I wanted to join, but we help each other because we understand.”
So, when David came home a few weeks ago to flowers in the window box, all of this came flooding back to him. The sadness of loss, but also the overwhelming feeling of love and connection to people who get it. To those few out there who really understand and who actually put that compassion into action.
David told me a story about when he and Rachel were newlyweds. She was working in New Orleans, and he called her at work. When they were ready to say goodbye, he told her, “I love you.” She only responded, “Uh huh.”
David was devastated that his new bride had not returned his declaration of love. When he spoke with her later, she explained that she had admonished her fellow workers not to use the business phone for personal calls, so she didn’t want them to hear her say, “I love you.”
So, from then on, he began ending his calls with “You love me.” This would become a regular thing with David and Rachel, saying “You love me” instead of “I love you.”
This worked well for them because they knew it was true.
David told me that someone recently asked him if Rachel was his soulmate for life. He told them, “You don’t understand. She WAS my life.”
Before ending our conversation, I asked David if he understood the magnitude of the blessing he has had. I know his story is unique, but I have known many people who have similar stories of loss. The difference here, with his story, is the amazing outpouring of compassion and action. I told him, “This isn’t common. The community of people that came through for you is extraordinary. Most people don’t see this kind of response.”
David understands the enormity of the blessing and is committed to serving others as well.
The love that propels people to respond in this way is absolutely the work of the Spirit of Christ. It is not just the goodness of people, but the goodness of God. People will fail us, but God never will.
I am thankful that in this community, God has called His people to act. So much so that people like you and me, and David, can truly say, “You love me!”
