Friday, July 29, 2005
Fellowship of the Saints
As some of you may know my parents live in Minnesota, my sister and her family in Chicago and my in-laws moved to Arizona a few years ago. It's been over half my life now since I lived with my parents and almost a third of my life since I lived with in a days drive of them so I am used to this situation but it can have it's negatives, especially as they have started aging.
Being far away from them and being here with two small children (4 and 6) who I am staying at home with and homeschooling can leave me feeling divided in terms of my time, energy, commitments etc. This has been especially true since mid-March when my dad (81) had to be hospitalized with blood pressure and breathing problems. My mom (76) has diabetes and some early dementia after a week or so on her own with neighbors in their condo helping with rides and meals/diabetes oversight we decided that she needed to be in some sort of interim care for her own peace of mind and safety. So I flew out and spent a week helping get things organized and getting her moved. My sister has also been out a few times to help with interim moves and needs related to their long term insurance and other needs. (My sister also has two kids and her husband almost died of a heart attack at Christmas, has not worked since, is likely to loose his job soon, and she is preparing to reenter the job market, so she has her plate more then full).
My parents are now settled in a semi-independent living facility where they are again together for the first time since March and where they have some assistance that provides a safety net if there are new changes in their health/needs.
Anyway, for the intervening 4 months I have been trying to balance and help with all of this long distance. I am so thankful that my Parents are Christian believers so that we had prayer and faith in God's loving care to sustain us even when it felt like we were going 3 steps forward/2 steps back. However, I don't know what we would have done without the help and aid of friends and our churches. My dad has been a Minister in the Episcopal church for over 50 years now and has had ministries in variety of parishes, a nursing home, a school, a prison, with the police force, and on an Indian Reservation just to name a few.
This has meant that there have been more people then I can count who have been lifting him up in prayer and offering to help in a variety of ways. I don't know what my sister and I would have done with out them being willing to be used by the Lord to provide help and support we never could have done on our own. Many of them were willing to do it because of the things my dad had done for them in times of need. Not that he or they did it to get "pay back" but as part of their understanding of Christian service and out of gratitude and because of the example of giving they saw modeled in him. (...pressed down and overflowing..) People from my church that don't even know him have been praying regularly for them and me too as we went through all of this.
Some of the things people have done include:
-a couple who set up a ride rotation so my mom could go see my dad every day and get to church
-over 20 people who took turns providing rides as their schedules allowed.
-taking my mom out for meals
-visiting mom in the care facility or dad in the hospital
-calling them
-sending notes
-running errands
-watering their plants in the condo
-helping move furniture
-watching out for mail or packages that didn't get forwarded
-making sure moms birthday was special
-taking mom to get her hair done at the place she is used to.
I mention these things to perhaps give you all some idea of things you could do for someone in a similar situation. These people did not minister just to my parents they also ministered to me and my family by what they did. It has got me thinking and being more aware that I may not be able to go and do for my folks easily but that there are people here in my church and neighborhood who I can do similar things for as God leads.
This requires Two things though, that I be willing to do it, and that they be willing to humbly make the need known and accept help.
I am blessed to belong to a very large, active church where there is an active and growing ethos that we are to care for each others needs in the kinds of ways I have mentioned, however not everyone understands that it takes all of us using the skills, gifts etc. that God has given us to make it work. We also don't realize what a blessing this is to both the direct and indirect recipients, especially when it is offered as loving service to the Lord.
I know the concept of "Saints" has very Roman Catholic and negative connotations for most protestants. But the "fellowship of the saints" is a biblical concept that refers to the body of believers and how we function and work together as a unit/body/family under God's loving direction and the power of the Holy Spirit. In this sense we all are saints called to work out our calling in service to each other and to Gods Glory.
Growing up in the Episcopal church one of my favorite children's hymns was "I sing a song of the saints of God" by Lesbia Scott
The final verse goes like this:
They lived not only in ages past,
There are hundreds of thousands still,
The world is bright with the joyous saints, Who love to do Jesus will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes or at sea,
In church, or in trains, or in shops or at tea.
For the saints of God are just folk like me,
And I mean to be one too.
I thank all those who lived out their sainthood by doing Jesus will in the lives of my family over the past 7 months and I pray that we all would be willing to be used as his saints in ways large and small.
Being far away from them and being here with two small children (4 and 6) who I am staying at home with and homeschooling can leave me feeling divided in terms of my time, energy, commitments etc. This has been especially true since mid-March when my dad (81) had to be hospitalized with blood pressure and breathing problems. My mom (76) has diabetes and some early dementia after a week or so on her own with neighbors in their condo helping with rides and meals/diabetes oversight we decided that she needed to be in some sort of interim care for her own peace of mind and safety. So I flew out and spent a week helping get things organized and getting her moved. My sister has also been out a few times to help with interim moves and needs related to their long term insurance and other needs. (My sister also has two kids and her husband almost died of a heart attack at Christmas, has not worked since, is likely to loose his job soon, and she is preparing to reenter the job market, so she has her plate more then full).
My parents are now settled in a semi-independent living facility where they are again together for the first time since March and where they have some assistance that provides a safety net if there are new changes in their health/needs.
Anyway, for the intervening 4 months I have been trying to balance and help with all of this long distance. I am so thankful that my Parents are Christian believers so that we had prayer and faith in God's loving care to sustain us even when it felt like we were going 3 steps forward/2 steps back. However, I don't know what we would have done without the help and aid of friends and our churches. My dad has been a Minister in the Episcopal church for over 50 years now and has had ministries in variety of parishes, a nursing home, a school, a prison, with the police force, and on an Indian Reservation just to name a few.
This has meant that there have been more people then I can count who have been lifting him up in prayer and offering to help in a variety of ways. I don't know what my sister and I would have done with out them being willing to be used by the Lord to provide help and support we never could have done on our own. Many of them were willing to do it because of the things my dad had done for them in times of need. Not that he or they did it to get "pay back" but as part of their understanding of Christian service and out of gratitude and because of the example of giving they saw modeled in him. (...pressed down and overflowing..) People from my church that don't even know him have been praying regularly for them and me too as we went through all of this.
Some of the things people have done include:
-a couple who set up a ride rotation so my mom could go see my dad every day and get to church
-over 20 people who took turns providing rides as their schedules allowed.
-taking my mom out for meals
-visiting mom in the care facility or dad in the hospital
-calling them
-sending notes
-running errands
-watering their plants in the condo
-helping move furniture
-watching out for mail or packages that didn't get forwarded
-making sure moms birthday was special
-taking mom to get her hair done at the place she is used to.
I mention these things to perhaps give you all some idea of things you could do for someone in a similar situation. These people did not minister just to my parents they also ministered to me and my family by what they did. It has got me thinking and being more aware that I may not be able to go and do for my folks easily but that there are people here in my church and neighborhood who I can do similar things for as God leads.
This requires Two things though, that I be willing to do it, and that they be willing to humbly make the need known and accept help.
I am blessed to belong to a very large, active church where there is an active and growing ethos that we are to care for each others needs in the kinds of ways I have mentioned, however not everyone understands that it takes all of us using the skills, gifts etc. that God has given us to make it work. We also don't realize what a blessing this is to both the direct and indirect recipients, especially when it is offered as loving service to the Lord.
I know the concept of "Saints" has very Roman Catholic and negative connotations for most protestants. But the "fellowship of the saints" is a biblical concept that refers to the body of believers and how we function and work together as a unit/body/family under God's loving direction and the power of the Holy Spirit. In this sense we all are saints called to work out our calling in service to each other and to Gods Glory.
Growing up in the Episcopal church one of my favorite children's hymns was "I sing a song of the saints of God" by Lesbia Scott
The final verse goes like this:
They lived not only in ages past,
There are hundreds of thousands still,
The world is bright with the joyous saints, Who love to do Jesus will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes or at sea,
In church, or in trains, or in shops or at tea.
For the saints of God are just folk like me,
And I mean to be one too.
I thank all those who lived out their sainthood by doing Jesus will in the lives of my family over the past 7 months and I pray that we all would be willing to be used as his saints in ways large and small.
