Nothing

 I had just completed a diatribe of how my day had gone.

"I know I'm 'called' to care for my mother," I told the women in my prayer group.  "But I just get tired".

My friend, Holly, smiled at me with these words:  "What can we do to help?"

Nothing.

Why in the world is that a common response - when offered help?

I thought of that as I meditated on the fact that today is Maundy Thursday,  The name comes from "mandate of the 'new commandment'" that was given by Jesus.  It was the last time that Jesus would share a meal with His disciples.  At that Last Supper, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and commanded them to love and serve one another as he had done when he washed their feet.  He even washed the feet of the one He knew was going to betray Him.

In my years as an Episcopalian, I have learned to love and appreciate liturgical worship.  I love the traditions that we follow from year to year. I always look forward to the Maundy Thursday service.

Except...I am great with washing someone else's feet, but not so great about someone doing the same for me.

The Lord Jesus, after he had supped with his disciples and
had washed their feet, said to them,

 "Do you know what I,

your Lord and Master, have done to you? 

I have given you an example,

 that you should do as I have done (from the Book of Common Prayer)

Hum.  I need a lesson in humility.

Tonight, someone else is going to wash my feet - they are doing it "as unto the Lord".

I'm also making a list of ways my friends can help me as I am in a stage in my life when I really need help.  I cannot do everything ...I must let my friends "do things as unto the Lord".

May your life be filled with enough sunshine
to make you appreciate the shadows

Not the way we planned it

March 12, 1923

Iva Louise was born to Ellie and Pauline Mercer Nesmith in Georgetown County, South Carolina.  She was the second child, first girl.  Four sisters, Thelma, Carolyn Ann, and Beth would follow her.  They would all be Rudoph's little sisters.  Before Carolyn's birth, the family relocated to Florida where Ellie went to work for Mason Lumber Company.

1929

The Nesmiths moved to South Jacksonville and began to attend the Methodist Church nearby. They met Ted and Lonnie Huffigham and were invited to Sunday dinner.

That's the first time my mother met my father.

August 5, 1942

Iva Louis and Earl were married.  He was a soldier boy and went off to war to be gone for almost four years.  Upon his return, they began their family.  I was born, then Cindy three and a half years later.  We had a fun life.  In 1959 their first son,  Jonathan was born.  Two years later, a second son, Lester completed the family.

For 67 years our parents celebrated their love for God, each other and their family.  By now that family numbers almost 40 and that's without the step-grands and greats.  And, of course, there are babies to come.

Spring 2018

We began to plan our mother's 95th birthday.  We decided to forego a big party.  We will wait for her 100th.

We did plan a family luncheon at Beach Road Chicken Dinner.  We thought we would have 35 with us to celebrate on the Sunday before her birthday.  Her sisters (Carolyn, Ann, and Beth are still with us) planned a nice luncheon on the actual anniversary of her birth.

All was set

Until my mother got cold on Sunday, March 4.  That led to a cough and a diagnosis of exacerbated Chronic Oxygen Pulmonary Disease (COPD).  She was admitted and spent five days at Baptist South.

And so the plans were changed

We will just reschedule the Beach Road Chicken Dinner extravaganza.  The sisters will have lunch another day.

The good that came out of this:

Four of 11 grandchildren enjoyed one on one visits.  Her sisters gave her a book that is about each of their relationships with her and a balloon.


That night her cousin, Evalyn came and they enjoyed face-timing with some of their South Carolina Nesmith cousins.

In one of her scrapbooks is a poem that her aunt Lila Newton gave her when daddy was on the way to the Pacific in World War II.  I'm not positive about the words, but I do know the concept is that sometimes the plans we make get rearranged and that God always has a better way.

Were we wrong to plan the celebration?  No

Did it all work out?  Well, she still had a birthday.

It was just not the way we planned.

By now, she is recovering well, back at home at Brookdale Mandarin and seems quite happy to be once more in her pretty apartment and with her good friends.  And we will start thinking about her 100th birthday.  It will be big.  We need a long time to plan it

May your life be filled with enough sunshine

 to make you appreciate the shadows

The wrong person

My mother and I were walking across the Stein Mart parking lot.  As is most always the case, I was more than a few steps ahead of her.

A young man, sitting in a wheelchair called out to me

"Could you buy me a sandwich?"

I shook my head  - no.

He was persistent.

"But I'm hungry", he said.

Sorry, I'm taking care of someone else, was my response.  I pointed to my mother, slowly making her way, her hands on her walker.

"But the Bible says you should take care of the poor and hungry", the man was persistant.

When I told him that I know what the Bible says he shot me a question.

"Then what does Philippians 4:13 say?"

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me".

The man shouted Hallelujah and wheeled himself on down the walkway.

When I related that store to my son, he said  "that guy chose the wrong person.  Did you tell him you had all afternoon if he wanted to suggest some other references?"

I'm sharing that story not because I think I'm some Bible scholar.  It's just that the Bible has been a part of my life - for well - all my life.

That night the key verse in our Bible study discussion was Joshua 1/8 -- It talks about the importance of knowing and meditating on God's word. 

When we know it, we can use it.  In times of sorrow, temptation, anger.  fear

47 years ago I had a cyst removed from my neck.  I was scared.  This was before babies and I had never had a broken bone or had a stitch.  As they wheeled me to the operating room, my mind talked with me with each turn of the wheel of the gurney.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart..."

Obviously, I survived that surgery plus many more opportunities to rely on Scripture verses that I have known since I was a child.

Yes, the guy asked the wrong person but fortunately, I had the right answer.