Good morning…
After re-reading yesterday’s post, This Unique Summer, I embodied a fresh prayer on my morning walk. “LORD, please help me to be grateful for each creature greeting me on my path, and help me to recognise an angel at every corner.”
Soon, I happened upon this stack of old tires. Piled up. Strewn about. Disheveled, in disarray. I thought of how sometimes our worries pile up. Our mixed emotions can feel strewn about. Our many cares lie disheveled, in disarray. I remembered Kate Bowler’s message from the morning, A Blessing for Caregivers, and I thought of my dad as an earthly angel, as he invests his day caregiving for my mom (at age 86, she’s slowly recovering from three falls and three broken leg bones in the past two years.)
I called my dad in Ohio, as I often do as I walk through my day. He’d been over to the care center to visit my mom, had come home for a quick lunch and was heading back to see her, to help her escape from the boredom of her tiny, sterile room. Like most days, they would take a drive, meandering to the shoreline of Lake Erie, parking in their favorite handicapped spot, and watching the strength and the direction of the waves, waves which whisper the day’s weather.
“Do you know the definition of health?” my dad asked me out of the blue.
“No, not really,” I replied.
“When I was in a health class at Wittenberg University many centuries ago,” he said, “I was told that The World Health Organization defined good health as mental, physical, social and emotional well being (MPSE). I try to help your mom stay healthy in all four of these ways. I take her on drives most every day to encourage her emotional well being.”
At age 87, I am amazed that my dad tenderly nurtures my mom with a nugget of wisdom he learned over sixty-five years ago.
Yet, worries can pile up for both my mom and my dad. Their overwhelming emotions can feel strewn about. Their cares lie disheveled, in disarray. That’s why I promised I would send to my dad Kate Bowler’s A Blessing for Caregivers. Along with my tired, caregiving dad, may these loving words enhance your own mental, physical, social and emotional well being.
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! (Proverbs 3:5-8, MSG).
…Sue…
