Energizer Bunny

This is Hannah again! A few days ago, Dad’s dear friend Doug Helms called him the “energizer bunny” since Dad just keeps going and going and going! Remember a few months ago that hospice doctor who stated Dad could die that night or she would see him in two months? Well, she popped by last week and saw him again!

Dad is declining, but slowly. His guardian angel must have been working overtime since Dad fell but miraculously did not break any bones. That fall hasn’t slowed him down one bit! Neither have the pressure sores that have developed from sitting most of the day. He is fighting with all his might to maintain his independence. I think that’s why he hasn’t gone to Heaven yet. Dad wants to go to Heaven but he wants to walk in without any help!

My in-laws, Andrew and Melissa, have stayed with us almost five weeks now. They are heading home soon to get some much needed rest. They have sacrificially slept on our couches, cooked, cleaned, and cared for all of us. We were also blessed by friends who lent us a lift recliner to use for as long as Dad needs it. 

Dad’s brother Steve said recently, “The Lord must be sharing a message through you, Mark.” Dad replied, “Well, he can stop anytime!” Dad is ready to be done with weakness, confusion, and discomfort and enjoy the glories of Heaven. But we remind ourselves again these days have purpose. We don’t know for sure what the Lord is teaching Dad, but I’ve reminded Dad that these days have purpose for myself, Daniel, and all those who are taking care of Dad. God is using this to grow our character too. So today we are praying from Every Moment Holy, Vol. II, “A Liturgy for Long-Term Caregivers”

There are times when love comes down 

To the choosing of one conscious act, and then

Another, and then another, a long succession

Of battles fought and won in the halls of 

Heart and mind - love invoked in the choosing

Of compassion over frustration, mercy over

Irritation, attentiveness over exhaustion, and 

The needs of another over my own desires.

O Father, let me love well this one who suffers.

Let me again and again choose love in each

moment, so that through every small act of care

And mercy the practice of love becomes a liturgy

And a habit by which you are forming in me a compassion

That cannot be learned any other way, save

By the giving of myself in long service to another. 

Open my eyes, Father, to see how this service 

Flows ever into your eternity, as a stream

Pouring into the sea; how it no longer has its 

Context in the old kingdom of death, but in

The new kingdom of life; how this tending 

Of your child through their dying is not a last

Thing, but a first thing; how what once was

A door slowly closing, has become, by your 

Resurrection, O Christ, a door flinging open to

Eternal life; how I, even now, bear the honor

Of serving as a porter at this threshold, tending

Needs and carrying burdens for one who prepares

To make the crossing into immortality.