Grandpa and God's Kingdom

As my husband's caregiver I saw my husband suffer many indignities as his disease progressed.  He became more and more disabled until at the end when he was totally dependent on others for everything.  On the surface that seems like such a waste of a beautiful man's life.  How was God's Kingdom advanced through all he suffered?  For that matter how was God's Kingdom advanced through his eventual death and lost to his family?  Would not God's Kingdom be better served by him still being alive as a healthy vibrant husband and grandpa?

I recently experienced similar questions in my mind when I had a major back pain flare-up, and my activities were significantly curtailed for a period of time.  Yet God often uses these very things for His Kingdom.  It personally reminds us our own weaknesses and makes us more aware of our need to be dependent on the Lord alone.  This in turn makes us more useful in His Kingdom.

About a week and a half ago I had one of my three sons' family in my home for a visit for a few days.  This family's home is in the UK.  Sometimes I lament the fact that I do not have more opportunities to have an influence, especially spiritually, on my grandchildren due to the distance they live from me.  Yet I had a couple beautiful interactions during the time this son's family was with me.

One of these interactions was with my nine year old granddaughter shortly before they left.  I own a few collector dolls.  Three of those dolls were smaller dolls, and they were on a shelf in the basement where the family was sleeping.  My granddaughter remarked how she liked my dolls.  Because I have done similar things for other grandchildren, I offered her the opportunity to choose between one of the three dolls to take home with her as her own.  She chose the doll with the color hair closest to her own.

What was also unique about this doll, however, is the fact that one of her legs was missing.  The other two dolls have all their limbs.  This lead to a discussion about how some people have disabilities and the fact that we all have weaknesses.  We also talked about how we are all special in God's eyes, if we love Him.  We further talked about how our weaknesses make us more dependent on the Lord.  Finally, we talked about how all disabilities will be eliminated some day when Jesus returns.

This granddaughter, although she says she remembers a smile her Grandpa gave her, would barely remember her Grandpa except through pictures.  Yet perhaps her Grandpa's influence on her life is much stronger because of the disability of his last years on earth. 

Remember the Love

(This is a chapter from my book, Dear Caregiver Reflections for Family Caregivers.)

One day in August of 2010 a few months before my husband’s death and in the midst of the chaos of care-giving I was having a good day. The weather was beautiful and free of all the heat and humidity we had been experiencing. Secondly, my husband was having a good day, and he had experienced a good therapy session. Finally, I had just finished reading some letters that my husband, Wayne, and I had written to each other in 1970 and 1971 before we were married.

Wayne and I met and dated from April of 1970 to the end of the school year, and then we dated again in the next school year until our marriage on July 30, 1971,  I was a teacher then, and I went home to my parent’s house during the summers. He went to summer camp for the Army Reserves both summers. The first summer, I also spent 6 weeks involved in a summer mission program, and the second summer I was at my parent’s home preparing for our wedding in my home town and state while he was getting things squared away in Wisconsin for our first home.

On that particular August day in 2010 I was inspired to read our love letters which we had written to each other those two summers when we were separated while dating. It proved a real joy to me to reread those letters that day, and I found myself smiling often. Those letters reminded me that the first summer Wayne was more sure of his feelings for me than I was for him. I knew I liked him, but I needed to be sure about love and marriage. The next summer when we were corresponding we were engaged, and both of us were sure of our love for each other. It was fun to reread about our young love.

I thought that rereading these old letters might make me feel a little sad thinking back to those days and comparing it with the life we were now living dealing with Wayne’s neurological condition. I guess it did a little. We had matured so much since those early days, however, and I was glad for that growth in maturity. I actually probably felt more sad about no longer being able to do some of the fun things we had done together during our “empty nest” years.

So reading those letters put a smile on my face that day. It reminded me of what was, and it reminded me of the beginning of our love. I love reading inspirational (Christian) romance books as a way to relax. Reading these letters was a little like that, except it was my story. That day, I had a smile on my face.

Dear Christian caregiver, terminal disease can change a relationship with a caregiver and his or loved ones who are ill. Take time often to remember the love that was and still exists. It will lighten the load.
　　

Your Divine Valentine

(Forgive me for once again republishing a post from the past. This is a blog post which I have published the last few years.  I think it is a message worth repeating again, as Wednesday is Valentine's Day.)

Dear caregiver, do you ever feel the sorrow of things lost?  Do you ever miss the way things were in the past with your loved one for whom you are caring?  Does the approach of holidays such as Valentine's day make you feel melancholy and sad?

During those moments of sadness remember that the Lord loves you with an infinite love.  He in effect is your Divine Valentine.  He is sufficient.  He alone can give you all that you need.  Below is a poem called Your Divine Valentine:


Your Divine Valentine

A Valentine may play a love song for you, but God sings you the sweetest love song in the universe.  (Zephaniah 3:17)

A Valentine may give you flowers, but God sent you the most beautiful rose of all, Jesus.
(Song of Solomon 2:1)

A Valentine may bring you chocolate, but God provides you with something even sweeter, His Word.  (Psalm 119:103)

A Valentine may love you for a lifetime,but God loved you before you were born and will love you for all eternity,
(Jeremiah 31:3)

Happily Ever After

(I posted this last year about this time.  There were many views.  I hope it proves a blessing again this year.)

I have a secret I am going to disclose.  I love Cinderella "happily ever after" type movies.  The truth is, however, that our "happily ever after" will not come until our Lord returns.  He is our only true Prince-Prince of Peace.

There are many moments of joy and happiness in this world.  There are also many trials and challenges.  God doesn't always let everything go our way or facilitate our version of "happily ever after" at least not during our existence on earth.  God is more interested in bringing us into a deeper relationship with Him and to a place of submission to His will.  He wants us to come to a place of trusting that His will is always best even in the struggles of life.  He wants us to rest in Him, to trust in Him.

Even in the struggles we can know that He loves us and cares about us, though our unreliable feelings may try to tell us differently.  He loves us even when He doesn't "fix" our difficult situations in the way we would like Him to remedy them. We must rely on the truths of Scripture which promise us over and over that He will never leave us. God often uses the difficult chapters of our lives in ways that He doesn't use the smooth-sailing moments of our lives.  In the difficult moments it is also His chance to show His faithfulness over and over again,  Rest in His faithfulness, dear caregiver.

Below is a link to an interview with Laura Story.  Her husband and she, as his wife, have been dealing with the consequences of her husband's brain tumor for over a decade.  Her vision of "happily ever after" would have been for God to fix the situation. That is not what happened.  Yet God has used this situation in her life for her good, to bring blessings.  God has also used the situation for His glory in wonderful ways-one being to encourage us. Click on the first link below to hear her story and insights.  You also may also want to check out her song "Blessings" by clicking on the second link below:

http://www.crosswalk.com/video/when-god-doesn-t-fix-your-life-an-interview-with-laura-story.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fbpage&utm_campaign=cwupdate


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQan9L3yXjc