“Clothe those who are cold, and don’t hide from relatives who need your help. If you do these things, God will shed his own glorious light upon you. He will heal you.”
Isaiah 58:7-8, TLB
Just a couple of years before my mother passed away, she came out to California to visit with Ken and me for “a few days.” Those “few days” stretched into many weeks, and I had to set aside commitments, and actually slow down for awhile!
But really, she and I did great together. I was her eyes (and sometimes her mind), and she was my hands. At the supermarket, I could carry the basket on my lap and she would reach for cans on the shelf. I laughed and told her, “Mother, together we almost make up a complete person!” On the way to the office, Mom and I enjoyed our routine. She’d look for sheep on the left side of the freeway, count the horses after the Lost Hills exit, and choose the hymn for the day which we’d sing the rest of the way to work. She helped me open the mail, fed me turkey sandwiches for lunch, and organized the colored pencils in my art studio. Back home on the Maryland farm in a lonely farmhouse, most of her days were spent puttering. Southern California and “helping Joni” was much more interesting.
The first night she was gone, I laid awake thinking about her, back on that isolated farm. I whispered, “God, please take care of my Mom.” And a deep peace settled over my heart. And He has taken care of her in the most profound way I can imagine. He has taken her into His arms and carried her home.
Do you have relatives — flesh and blood or in the family of God — you could encourage today with a call or a card or a visit? As you bless them, I’m confident that God will also bless you in a fresh and unusual way.
Father, show me this day how to reach out to my own flesh and blood… and to those who share the DNA of Jesus.
