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Repaying Your Relatives?

All grace is poured out from Him to be His loving instruments to repay ailing, frail, sick, or aging relatives.

Written by Andrew Kerr | Friday, November 8, 2019

What I’ve come to discover, is that when we care for our loved ones who need help, massive blessing can result from what we had maybe, in part, previously viewed as stress.

 

As I tearfully drove my mother down to hospital this morning, a wonderful truth was impressed upon my heart. If this blog is little personal, please forgive me—I hope it may bring some benefit and comfort to other saints who are faced with tricky choices about how to care for loved ones! A number of months ago she suddenly became unwell—only today, after a number of appointments, are we beginning to get to the bottom of what is really going on.

I went up to her bedroom, with my brother waiting downstairs, and as I looked around, at the lovely home she had, for the first time I wondered if some big life changes might now be on the way?

It’s not that we’re unique—certainly we aren’t: in fact, over the past couple of weeks I been struck by other friends, who have made costly choices, to take care of sick or elderly parents: so in no small part, this post is a massive tribute to God’s grace at work in those loving saints!

What I’ve come to discover, is that when we care for our loved ones who need help, massive blessing can result from what we had maybe, in part, previously viewed as stress.

It can be hard when life is busy, when we are trying to hold down a job, tend to family matters, and fulfill your church responsibilities, to keep all the balls in the air—to tend an elderly relative can wrongly be viewed as the straw that might break the camel’s back.Yet, it has really surprised me, that pouring out love on parents (or other loved ones), can actually lift a weight and help to bring out just how much Christian love God has bottled up in the (God-given) loving hearts of saints!Even when it is hectic, I’ve noticed something strange, that when I visit my mum, I’ve become really serene and calm—a deep loves bubbles up, hidden away in 53 year old depths, to speak softly and gently, to exercise incredible patience, and to shower her with smiles and hugs, that I don’t know quite where they’re coming from. Meeting her kind eyes, that are sometimes scared or sad—as a once highly articulate nurse tutor tries to stumble over words—has set me free to float on air as she has ministered to me.

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