Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.
Some years ago, I answered the phone only to hear my almost always emotionally level friend, (a trait I was somewhat envious of through the years…) dissolving in tears at the other end of the telephone line. Picture this scenario. My single mom friend with her three teens is asked by her elderly parents to sell her home, help them (the elderly parents) sell their house, and jointly move into a different house accommodating both families so that my friend can help care for her parents as they age. My friend, being the selfless, godly woman that she is, sells her home and moves into the new house. Within a few days of that move, my friend’s mother calls and tells her they (the elderly parents) have changed their minds about moving.
God Sees Your Struggle
Who can picture living through this living nightmare? My friend could and she did. Sadly, it wasn’t just a bad dream that she could sit up in bed and shake off…it was her reality. After countless conversations and pleadings by her folks to agree to the joint household living situation, my friend agreed. Who could have predicted that her parents would abruptly change their minds leaving my friend in a lurch (financially and emotionally bereft?) No one.
What transpired on the heels of that phone conversation was the very last thing my friend could have imagined and to say that her parents’ decision to not move strained their relationship would be an understatement. Still, my friend “manned up” and made the best of this awful situation which was further complicated by the ongoing fact that her parents still needed care giving. In the ensuing months, my friend and her children’s lives eventually returned to some normalcy. However, my friend was abruptly thrust into a new dimension of care giving she hadn’t counted on or expected.
God Promises To Stay Close
After that significant and taxing event, she started making ground rules with her folks that she hadn’t previously realized were needed. She also took a few steps back and began re-assessing her parents’ needs as well as her own. Some of the choices she made angered her parents. Others, they only bristled at but later complied when they realized it was for their protection. To say that my friend learned a few lessons about the role of care giving would be accurate and what she discovered was that even when you’re fully prepared, you’re not fully prepared. Making sacrifices so that someone you love is comfortable…sometimes remarkably so…that is care giving in a nutshell.
God Enables Us To Give Care
Care giving is one of the most noble and selfless acts of service we can offer those we love. Whether it’s short-term care giving following an accident or illness or the long-term variety that comes with aging, taking care of people is a beautiful loving act. But as is true in every area of life, care giving will throw us some curveballs, so preparation is non-negotiable.
God Gives Us What We Need To Give
What may begin as a short stint in giving some additional care can swiftly morph into a 24/7 responsibility. Which is why looking ahead just makes good sense as we anticipate various solutions to impending problems. Depending upon a number of factors, families can somewhat accurately predict what their loved one is going to face and how they might best meet those needs. We look ahead and then we assess our resources (people, time, money) and start the delegation process. Above all, we bathe the situation in continual prayer asking God to reign over the whole situation.
God Is The Ultimate Care Giver
Like so many service-oriented endeavors, care giving has its high points and low points. There will be an ebb and flow to the entire process, one that can be tempered by realistic expectations of everyone involved. It’s never easy being the person on the receiving end of care giving. It’s never easy being the person giving the care. It is, however, something we do for those we love and we try to do it with a generous kindly spirit.
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