Good morning…
As we wake on World Gratitude Day 2023, I am totally thankful for unplanned God-moments like the one I experienced yesterday morning.
Okay. So we have random books strewn throughout our home. With six people having lived in our family for over the past twenty-eight years, we have remnants of days gone by littering our living space. Landing mysteriously on our coffee table, the stray book above just caught my attention. Pulled in by the quiet magnetism of God’s Spirit, I turned mindlessly to page 94. Here is what I read.
I had just spent quality time talking by phone to my parents in Ohio. After buying bananas, milk, and oatmeal at Aldi’s, my dad filled me in on happenings from the day before, along with plans for the day ahead. Then I talked with my mom at the skilled nursing center as she prepared for her day. She has been trying to get comfortable with her colostomy bag and returning to her walker again. When my parents’ comfort level grows, she will return to their independent living villa in the care of my dad with some help from home healthcare.
As she and I talked by phone, I remembered with her how, when my parents first visited their senior living community, my mom was a bit put off by all the wheelchairs and walkers lining the common dining room. Since moving in November of 2018, my parents have met amazing people, interesting people who sometimes need the assistance of walkers and wheelchairs. As she has recovered from difficult health challenges three times in the past eighteen months, now my mom and her walker easily fit right in. “I am so thankful we are here at the Renaissance,” she said with her smiling voice.
After hanging up the phone, I plopped down on the couch to attend to work needs. But first, I was drawn to the cover of this colorful book, a book written for 6 to 9 year old readers (an old gift to our oldest daughter Tessa, who is now does college ministry at Georgia Tech). The reading and picture from this kids’ book revealed exactly what my heart needed to hear.
Even though my parents could not attend our oldest son’s wedding three Sundays ago, my mom’s life was saved through a surgery that same morning and her slow, steady recovery is taking God’s time. The Good Shepherd loves my mom and my dad even more than I do, carrying them both close to his heart, moment by moment, day after day. For God’s constant loving care, I am eternally grateful.
Whatever challenges we wake up into today, might we be carried on the shoulders of Psalm 103:2 (VOICE)? O my soul, come, praise the Eternal; sing a song from a grateful heart; sing and never forget all the good He has done.
…Sue…
