Anticipation of a sweet reunion does much for a separated heart. Approaching the finale of week two, my heart grows fonder with each moment and hour my beloved and I are apart. Two thirds of our time apart is coming to an end and today I have put together the plans for the day of our reunion with some of the things she loves, (shopping at a HUGE Christmas store, and dinner at a great restaurant in Frankenmuth) along with a new adventure, staying a nice hotel with a river view.
Yes, even some 30 years later, I am still 'dating' my wife, the beloved partner of all I am and have become with her by my side. This time of absence has done much in appreciation for both of us, in the value and understanding of how much we do to 'help' each other. Already overwhelmed with work, Carrie has told me numerous times that she just didn't realize how much I helped her around the house as now she has to 'do it all'. And for me, as I find myself 'doing it all' for my mother-in-law, I have come to appreciate her presence whenever we have ventured up here to Rogers City to visit her mom. It is so much easier to share the task of M.O.'s (Marion Owens as the people lovingly call her) care when my beloved and I are together.
What has been special is the increasing bond and loving relationship that has developed between my mother-in-law and I, through our time together. What also has been confirmed in my heart is the depth of my calling and the 'nature' God has forged within me as "His Caregiver". God has wired me as an encourager with His gentle spirit and leading. He has given me the gift of caring, nurturing and sincerity as only Christ can give a 'man'. I find myself taking life on fully, embracing and moved by it all. This rich experience, this disciplined time has proven the character qualities God has built within me, and it is for His glory alone, nothing of which I can boast or take personal pride or credit.
Even in absence I have discovered great abundance. Yes, there is pain, real pain. Yes there is joy, real joy. I have come to understand that if every day were a joyful feast, filled with every imaginable delicacy, I would soon grow to a state of non-appreciation for such daily richness. Just as 'religious' practices can become mundane and empty before Him so a fully abundant life would become sadly bane. The ups and downs of life are part of His grand design to keep us before Him, if our hearts remain responsive to what He is trying to forge within us. It is good to drink deeply our pain, for out of the deliverance rises a true and grateful heart for the rich abundance He brings out of the absence (pain).
Are you getting this? Do you choose to embrace only the blessings without the embracing of the struggle? This season of absence, has also been filled with abundance as I build stronger relationships with my mother-in-law and those here in the 'city' where I temporarily live. But then again, this life is temporary too, for I am here looking forward to the abundance of heaven and absence from this place. No more sorrow, and to be fully present with Jesus? I am so there!
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