Work

 September 16, 2020

It’s been a busy day. Prayer with some pastors this morning followed by splitting wood for about four hours, dinner and a meeting at church. There is more wood to be done, remodeling our granddaughter’s bedroom, tearing off the cellar entry in preparation for some construction, a Saturday class on church security, and tending to my bees. Retirement isn’t all about sipping iced tea while rocking on the porch.

Tomorrow I’ll visit my mother. She’ll be 98 on Sunday. She’s tired, can’t see to read, has trouble hearing, and can barely get around. So most days she just sits, interspersed with taking naps. About four years ago her doctor told her she needed heart surgery to repair a leaky valve. “What if I don’t have it?” she asked. 

“You’ll probably not last the year,” was the good doctor’s response.

“And if I have the surgery?”

“I can pretty much assure you of five or six years.”

“I can’t see to read, can’t hear, can’t get around; why would I want five or six years of that?”

She didn’t get the surgery, but she did get the years. Unfortunately, she also got the slow decline of her mobility. So she sits. And sleeps. And prays. I prefer the busyness, and am grateful to not be at a point in my life where sitting is all that’s left to me. The genetics are not favorable in that regard. My dad lived to be 92, mom is 98, my dad’s mother lived to be 100. So I’ll take the activity while I am able, even when my hands and arms ache at the end of the day. At the very beginning, God placed Adam in a garden and gave him the job of taking care of it. Work is good, and I am grateful tonight to be able to do more than just sit. 

Pray for mom. She is ready to see Jesus face to face, and prays that her day will come soon. Us kids told her that her problem was that we were outnumbering her with our prayers to keep her around, but lately that’s changed. Jesus said, “If two of you agree on earth concerning anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven, for where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:19-20) We have begun agreeing with mom. It’s time for her to be able to walk and dance in the presence of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And when that time comes, we will continue to be thankful for her legacy, and that she will once more be able to be busy about the Lord’s work in heaven, as we are here on earth.