Lenten Blessing

This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. As usual, I have decided to “give up” something as a way of making myself aware of Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday and bringing me closer to God. In addition to my own small sacrifice, I also am committed to being more aware of God’s presence in my life and thinking about why that presence is so meaningful to me. I think paying attention to God’s hand in my life is an even more important way to honor Jesus’ sacrifice this Lent (and beyond).

We just returned from two weeks in Chicago in response to my husband’s mother’s fall, resulting broken hip, and subsequent heart attack in the hospital. She is 91 years old and a strong woman. Nevertheless, she lives far away from all of her children and needed help while in the hospital and following the ensuing surgery.

It frankly wasn’t easy to pick up and drive to Chicago, and spend almost two weeks living in her apartment in a retirement community in Orland Park, IL. Much of the time was spent either at the hospital with her, or driving back and forth between the hospital and her apartment. I’m not saying this to make sure that people feel good and sorry for me, however. I am saying this to indicate just how easy it would be to feel sorry for myself. Instead, I think of this as a unique sort of gift.

Because we live far away from her, I can only occasionally let her know how much I love her, and how important she is in my life. By attending to her during the past days, I think she fully understands what she means to me. I hope so, because I love her very much.

Another gift coming out of this unfortunate event is that I got a chance to spend time with my husband’s sister and brother. They both live very far away, and though we have been married 16-and-a-half years, the time I’ve spent with his siblings is very miniscule. While we were there, we all worked together to help our mother/mother-in-law. We took turns relieving each other to avoid becoming overly tired. We laughed a lot and cried a lot. We prayed together and provided moral support to one another. I feel much closer than I ever have before, and that is a good thing.

Finally, living in the retirement community was its own sort of gift. This particular retirement community consists of several smaller communities. My mother-in-law resides in independent living. There is also an assisted living community, a skilled nursing area (where she is currently staying to recover and do her physical and occupational therapy), and a memory care community. She has lived here for four years, and has made some very close friends. Seeing how these four women responded to their friend during this time was truly inspirational. Their friendship has made it much easier for us to come home. These four women will provide her companionship and, perhaps more important, will push her and prod her to work hard and think positively. Being a witness to this type of friendship has given me incentive to work harder on my own friendships.