The Hardest Lesson of Our Life

Perhaps because Dean's been in long-term care for over a year now, I'm feeling more and more at a loss for finding"lessons of faith" to share on this blog. There are just fewer and fewer learning experiences to draw from my caregiving.

In addition, my grandmother babysitting has slowed down, due to the girls getting older and work hours changing for their parents.

Even my pets (a small dog and a cockatiel) are getting older now, sleeping more, and I'm afraid I won't have them around much longer to care for.

But God certainly hasn't stopped teaching me about faith and my need to depend on Him. As we get deeper and deeper into our senior years, the hardest lesson we may have to learn is how to depend on others, instead of being the one they depend on.

Dean's experience at the care center is certainly a model for me to follow. I'm sure the hardest part of being there, and why he calls it "jail", is because others must do things for him that he used to do for himself.

In the same way, I must allow God to do everything for me. In addition to giving others a blessing, we must learn the most gracious way to receive those blessings. Yes, that may truly be the hardest lesson we must learn in our lifetime.

Receiving a gift is as important as getting it!

The Who's That Matter

Being able to converse every day on the phone, and seeing him several times a week has helped the feelings of separation from being apart from each other, but it's still hard for Dean to understand why he can't return to our home of 17 years. It's funny, because he really didn't consider it "home" before. He said he was just existing here in Nebraska. His real home was in the Northwest somewhere.

That was probably a healthier way to look at it. Because anywhere we live on this earth is the same as  it was for Abraham, living in tents as he did for so many years. This faithful man was waiting "for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." We too must keep our eyes on that Holy City, the New Jerusalem. It takes a lot of faith, but God is giving us the opportunity to grow that faith through our tent-dwelling experiences here on earth.

It's amazing, but the closest I feel to Dean is when we're praying together. Perhaps, because it brings us closer to that heavenly home, even to the throne room of God.

Adjusting to Dean being in a care facility got a little easier for us both this week when I saw something online. I shared this quote with Dean, "It's not what we have in life, but WHO we have that matters." Let's look more for the "who's", and especially for the most important WHO, our Lord and Savior. It's not even about the promised mansion, but about all our loved ones being there.

It's not what we have in life, but WHO we have that matters!