I am so encouraged by the people God has placed around us.
I have a friend who is such a hard worker. She recently spent several months renovating a house she's renting out. She worked and worked and worked. End result? Total exhaustion. That didn't prevent her from throwing a combined birthday party for 2 of her children the day after the house was finished. I felt very honored to be at the party. I had the pleasure of seeing her mother again. This lovely woman is 68 years old and spent many a day helping her daughter renovate the house. My friend said that she couldn't have finished up with the house on time without her mother's tireless help. I found out that doing hard physical work isn't that unusual for this interesting lady. She crawls under her house to fix pipes. She birthed 8 children in 8 years. Enough said.
I may have already written about this family I'd like to share but it would be good to share again. The father suffered a stroke. What did the father's children do? They wanted to love the father. Close by. How close? In the house close. The father lived in Texas. As did a daughter who was single. The decision was made to relocate both father and daughter to North Carolina where another daughter lived with her family. God blessed. The father and daughter moved into a house next door to the other daughter's house. The single daughter gave up her job and became chief care giver of her father. I didn't say that right. She exchanged a mundane work for an eternal one. She certainly didn't bear the burden alone, though. Her sister and her sister's husband and all of the sister's children all cared for the elderly beloved man. He spent the last 2 years of his life surrounded by family. They were with him to the very end. I don't know why God allowed the stroke to cripple this dear man. I do know that God used this for good. He brought a family together. This family didn't profit alone. Their church witnessed what honoring one's parents looks like and that time spent together is so very precious and worth moving for. After the passing of the father, did the single daughter move back to her original abode in Texas? She kept the riches she gained. She still lives next door to her sister. I just saw them recently at a baby shower and they were so much fun. They were like best friends. Hmmm. Maybe they are best friends. They didn't wait until they got really old to decide to spend time together. That is just rich. No money in the world can match the time spent together with those you love.
And then there's my husband. May I brag on my own husband? No, I won't. I'll just tell it like it is. He is going to help his parents with some renovations on their house. He'll have to fly to get to their house but what's a plane ticket? Money well spent.
When we get older, I pray that our children will follow suit and decide that spending time with us is of utmost importance. I hope they know why we spend all day teaching them and all night reading to them. We want to reap the rewards of our investment. How sad that there are parents who invest half heartedly and are surprised when their investments yield such little return in their adult children. The Bible promises that children are a blessing. God, please make us to be a blessing to our children first so that we will continue to receive your promises and enjoy the blessing of our children to the end of our earthly lives.
1 comment:
Reading this made me so happy for what some people will do for loving their family, but it also made me sad. When my grandmother began showing signs of small strokes and dementia, we offered to take her in and care for her at home. I knew she wasn't eating properly and I know what terrible effect that has on the elderly. My mother didn't even consult with her brothers, but told me that "none of us want you to do that." Then into the nursing home she went :(
She hated it there and begged to be taken out, still my mom wouldn't let us take her in. Grandma B. fell, trying to climb out of a way too high bed and fractured the ball of her femur completely off...necessitating a hip replacement. She never walked again. To keep her from attempting to stand, they began sedating her heavily. If she was awake, she was irritable. I fully understand why.
She has lingered there, not properly nourished, properly stimulated, or properly loved for over 5 years now. And NOW my mom wishes she had done things differently. So do my children. They ALL wanted Grandma with us because she was our sweet Grandma B and she deserved so much better than this.
Sadly, my mother lives with my sister now in a mother in law's apartment because she doesn't want to go into a nursing home when she becomes confused or unable to walk. Sis is figuring how she can get her INTO the nursing home ASAP yet hang onto the money and property.
The irony of it is my mother turned all rights over to my sister to make the decision and has no idea where she is going to end up. Her fate is going to be the same as her own mother's. Sometimes my husband says "Oh well, what goes around comes around and she created this problem herself."
It just makes me very sad.
Thanks for telling about a family who loved enough to do it differently.
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