Tag Archives: Caring

Who Am I to Cry?

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It is so easy to throw a pity party…just invite me, myself, and I, a few bad memories, a couple of hurtful comments, a large box of super soft tissues for the tears and you’re off to the doldrums!

And then some uninvited guests show up. People who actually care about you; who are ready to cry with you, if needed, but more importantly, are there to let you know you’re not alone in sadness.

One such guest showed up this morning, online, and shared with me the story of her cousins who were momentarily about to lose their precious seven-year-old son to cancer. This dear little boy is losing, or has lost, as I write, his battle with that demon disease. I’m crying for this friend and her cousins.

A similar story came my way a couple of years ago, via another friend who witnessed almost the exact same scenario with friends of hers and their seven year old grandson.

A fellow blogger reminded me of the story she posted of her mother succumbing to cancer’s clutches, and the crushing feeling of helplessness she experienced at that time.

And then there was Kristiana, a dear little member of our church, whose face I can see to this day, who also left her family and friends in a state of sadness for her loss, but also a state of happiness for Christ’s gain. She was thirteen and had fought her battle for nine years.

 

And so I’m reminded, although we don’t expect to be hurt by the ones we love, it happens: whether by death-which is out of our hands-or unkind remarks, which are also out of our hands, we are, if we are caring people, going to be hurt. Guaranteed. It goes without saying, if we don’t care we won’t hurt.

As always, God has a way of catching me off-guard and causing me to smile through my tears. It happened at nine o’clock this morning, when the child in me began to sing “Jesus loves me, this I know…” and that’s all I needed to know. Everything else is secondary.

So, who am I to cry? Just another person who bleeds when cut, and thankful for those who come by with bandages.

May God bless all those who stand by with those boxes of tissues. I love you.

 

 

 

Is Anyone Listening?

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Yesterday I posted a blog about a friend of mine who is dying of cancer. I described her plight and asked for prayer. Guess what? The blog received 0 comments and 0 likes….with two exceptions; one via email from a friend who said this:

WOW, that was powerful! I found this blog especially
poignant…….You have really missed your calling! I get far more
out of your blogs than going to church and listening to a sometimes
boring sermon. You have really had a positive influence on my life.
So, maybe you should continue on with what you are doing and get the
word out there to people like me. I am serious about this! Keep up
the good work.
Your forever grateful friend….Sandy F.

And this from a friend on Facebook: My prayers were given…God bless her! Gail J.

For them, I will continue blogging.

Other than that….Nothing. Zero. Zilch.

So I’m wondering…what are we doing with all these messages coming our way? Reading them and saying…”Oh, that’s nice” or “What a load of crap!” OR thinking, “that’s not my problem, I have other things to write about.” Is anything getting through to us?

That ZERO day almost caused me to give up on my goal of one hundred blogs in one hundred days. But thank God, Jesus did not give up on me because he was too busy doing other things or thinking of other people, or attending His own agenda. So I won’t give up either.

King Solomon said in Proverbs 1: 5–let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance–

My friend is still dying of cancer, and I am still asking for prayers–please and thank you–is anyone listening?

 

 

 

Minding God’s Own Business

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There are times we walk around looking at the ground, totally unaware of what’s going on around us. There are also times when what’s going on around us makes us think we should just mind our own business, and not get involved in whatever the occurrence might be. And then there are times when getting involved is just the right thing to do.

Chapter Thirty-One  –  Minding God’s Own Business

I visited Jerry daily in hospital when he was admitted on July 31, 2004, with Parkinson’s disease, and the onset of Alzheimer’s. As I wheeled him to the TV room one evening after dinner, I noticed an old gentleman in a geri-chair in the hallway. He was very agitated, and trying desperately to climb out of the chair. It had a high back, widening wing-like at the top. A wrap-around tray prevented him from getting out. His son tried to spoon-feed him but he refused to eat, shouting that he wanted to go home. Normally, I would have passed by, minding my own business, but I was drawn to these two. I stopped and told the younger man that Jerry had recently gone through that phase, and assured him it does get better. I then spoke to his father.

“Hi there. How are you tonight?”

“You look pretty good,” he said, forgetting his agitation for the moment.

“You look pretty good yourself,” I answered, “and I love your chair. It looks like it has wings.”

“Yes, and I’ll fly away.” he said…….

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 28:40)

Tomorrow  –  The Final Breath  –  A Lesson in Dying