Taking Care of Mom

In times past, posts like this have been about taking care of oneself, complete with someone blessing Momma with a cup of tea.

This time, however, it is different.  I am finding myself being the one checking up on my own Mother, making sure she's cared for after surgery.  The challenge is that she's 2,000 miles away.  I find myself being anxious about her care after she goes home because she has no one to look after her.  My heart is broken for her.  My aunt, my mother's younger sister, is there--just having returned home from vacation *just* last night.  Well, you know how incredibly busy you are after coming home from a vacation with things to wash, unpack and put away.  Since she is the only one available, she's there.  My heart breaks for her too.

This has taken a toll on my own heart--not physically, but emotionally and spiritually.  My heart is wrenching.  I know my sister has been there for my mother for a very very long time and she's tired of the variety of situations mother, being mother, that my sister has endured.  I don't fault her for having a life where she cannot get away and help.  Mother is a difficult person to love at times.  My sister doesn't have Jesus in her life, nor does she attend a Christian church on a weekly basis to get the support she needs from church family.  For someone to even try to love a person like my mother without Jesus in their life is a challenge in an of itself.

Here I sit, frustrated, unable to do anything for my mother from 2,000 miles away.  I cannot be there physically.  But, this morning I got to talk with her before she went in to surgery.  I told her that I loved her.  She said she loved me too.  I didn't hear that growing up, so as an adult it feels so very surreal.  I tell my own children that I love them numerous times a day, as well as my husband.  Love is a very easy thing for me.  I don't understand NOT loving.

I pray for her, for my aunt, for my brother and sister, and for a solution to help my mother and make sure she's cared for when she gets home.  My heart is wrenching, because I cannot be there to help her and to show her the love of Jesus.  I pray that a loving and wonderful group of Christian caregivers comes along to care for her.  I pray that she has help when she gets home.

Please join me in prayer for her as well.