Good morning…
Before I leaving my parents’ villa to visit my mom in the hospital, I looked down on their table to see two simple items. A small wooden reminder, “In all things give thanks.” And a card with a butterfly, black and white, yellow and orange.
I did not know if my mom, unresponsive in the ICU for three days, would go on to her forever home that day or wake up and return to us on earth. In either of these very real possibilities, I wondered, “God, will I be able to give you thanks?”
If my mom had a really happy Valentine’s Day with our family and her friends then quietly slipped on to heaven, could I give thanks? If my mom woke up and came back to us for another long season of recovery, relearning, regaining strength, would I give thanks?
We are each born like caterpillars, crawling through life, inching along. Yet inside each of us is the stuff that makes butterflies. We are wired for metamorphosis, our life becoming more life, forever and evermore.
In that sacred moment, I could sense in my soul the truth of my mom. If she could speak, she might have echoed these words spoken by the apostle Paul. “Everything happening to me…only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die… Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his prize. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose” (Philippians 1:20-21, MSG). Heading to the hospital, I sensed an eternal truth: “My mom can’t lose.”
In all things, my 86-year-old mom is teaching me to genuinely give thanks.
…Sue…
P.S. With a big smile, my mom woke up. She left the ICU late on Saturday night and returned to the skilled nursing unit at their senior living community. She will receive regular physical and occupational therapies to help her regain her strength, returning to her walker and eventually settling back into their independent living villa in the care of my dad. Thank you for your continued prayers for my dear parents in Ohio.
