God's Not Done
8/11/2021
My mom suffers from dementia. It has been a slow decline over the past 10 years. The year of isolation due to Covid 19 restrictions in her Long Term Care Facility caused a very rapid progression of her disease. I couldn’t visit her with the consistency she was used to. Once I was allowed to visit again, she struggled to know exactly who I was. Luckily, the years of spending time with her taught me to just roll with it. I don’t spend my time with her trying to make her remember. I just enjoy being with her. My mom is a believer and one day she will be completely whole again in every sense of the word. I long for that day for her. But what about the “now?” Can life on earth still be full of worship, service, prayer and spiritual purpose for those who are mentally or physically impeded? Is it possible that God still has a plan for them? We love to hear stories about people who have been healed of diseases because God’s mercy is easily seen. How do we see His glory in suffering that doesn’t end in healing?
We must BELIEVE that God is in control, that He is good and that He is FOR us! It’s important to search the Bible for the truths about God’s character and His faithfulness and keep reminding ourselves of it. There are many people in your life who want good things for you. There are people who love you like you are their very breath, but even that love doesn’t come close to the love of the Father. And that is our great hope!
I have had some of the sweetest moments with my mom during these dementia ridden years. She is not the same Mom that I can call and ask for advice about how to cook something. I can’t go shopping with her or take a walk. Sometimes she says things that shock and embarrass me. But sometimes she just sits and tells me that I’m pretty and that she’s so glad to have a visitor and that I have cheered her up! She tells every aide and nurse that she loves them and that they are so good at what they do! She is still serving God because she still has the gift of encouragement that she’s always had! I can see God glorified in that! He’s not done with her! Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared BEFOREHAND so that we would walk in them.”
Whatever you are walking in right now, hold your head up! You will only see the ground in front of you if you keep your head down! There is so much more on the horizon! God has planned this and is sovereign over it, and He knows how prepared you are to handle it because He was the One who prepared you! You can trust that because you can trust HIM!
About a month ago my mom was hospitalized and very, very ill. We all thought it might be “the end.” She is doing much better now, but one day as I sat next to her hospital bed, I was holding her hand and stroking her head to help her fall asleep and she suddenly opened her eyes and said “You’re here! I can’t believe I found you! I can’t believe it! I love you so much! I’ve loved you since I met you!” She repeated it over and over to me as her eyes filled with tears and more emotion than I can even describe to you! She finally said something that made me realize that she didn’t see ME sitting beside her; she thought I was my DAD! My Dad passed away in 2012! I was beyond blessed to be a part of that moment! She got to experience “finding” my Dad again after all these years, and I got to experience all the love she poured out for him. The God who loves her gave her that incredible gift! It was more than enough proof to me that He is very aware of her condition and because I know that His character is GOOD, I can trust that He IS working all things for HER good and HIS glory!