Urgency of Life — Maggie and Roger Bruehl (CRU Legacy)
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Maggie
I still remember the moment the doctor said the word “cancer”. It didn’t echo the way I expected. It didn’t feel like a death sentence or a collapse. It felt like a curtain being pulled back. Suddenly everything in my life came into sharp focus — every relationship, every breath, every quiet moment I had taken for granted.
I walked out of that office with a strange mix of fear and clarity. I didn’t know what the future held, but I knew I didn’t want to sleepwalk through my life anymore. I wanted to live awake. I wanted to love awake. I wanted to follow Christ awake.
Before the diagnosis, I think I assumed I had endless time. I kept postponing conversations, dreams, forgiveness, even joy. But when you’re told your time might be short, you stop postponing. You start paying attention. You start asking God what really matters.
And He answered.
He didn’t answer with a booming voice or a miracle cure. He answered by opening my eyes. I began to see people differently — their pain, their beauty, their need for hope. I found myself wanting to tell them that life is fragile, yes, but it’s also sacred. And that Christ meets you in the fragility, not after you’ve cleaned it up.
Cancer didn’t make me brave. Christ did. Cancer just made me aware.
Roger
When Maggie told me the diagnosis, I felt the floor shift under my feet. I wanted to fix it, protect her, make it go away — but I couldn’t. And that helplessness drove me straight to God.
I had always believed in Him, but suddenly belief wasn’t enough. I needed Him. I needed His presence, His steadiness, His peace. And He gave it, not in dramatic flashes, but in quiet ways: a Scripture that landed at the right moment, a friend who called without knowing why, a calm that didn’t make sense.
Walking through cancer with Maggie taught me what love really looks like. It’s not grand gestures. It’s showing up. It’s listening. It’s praying when you don’t have words. It’s holding her hand in the doctor’s office and choosing faith even when fear is loud.
I watched Maggie come alive in a way I had never seen before. She wasn’t ignoring the reality of her illness — she was refusing to let fear define her. She embraced life with a passion that inspired me, challenged me, and honestly humbled me.
Her urgency became my urgency. Not panic — purpose. We started living with intention. We talked more deeply. We forgave more quickly. We prayed more honestly. We realized that the most meaningful life is the one lived with eternity in view.
Together
Cancer didn’t destroy us. It refined us.
It taught us that life is too precious to waste on bitterness, distraction, or half-hearted faith. It taught us that Christ is not just the God of Sunday mornings — He is the God of hospital rooms, sleepless nights, and trembling hands. He is the God who sits with you in the fear and whispers, “I am here”.
We don’t tell our story so people will feel sorry for us. We tell it because we want people to wake up — not because of illness, but because life is a gift, and Christ is real, and eternity is closer than we think.
If our journey has taught us anything, it’s this:
Urgency isn’t about rushing. It’s about living fully — loving fully — trusting fully — because every moment is a chance to know God and make Him known.
And that is a life worth living, no matter how many days you’re given.
-Maggie and Roger Bruehl
