Greetings from Austin Street
Happy Thursday! All is well at 811. I finished the first draft of my paper due on
Saturday. A wonderful friend and Brite alum has graciously agreed to look at my
papers as my extra set of eyes. Bruce has seen each paper that has left this
house until now. So I guess it is time for me to step up to the plate and do a
more careful job and help my friend’s job be a little easier. Tomorrow I begin
the next paper due on Tuesday. Say a prayer for not only me, but my new editor
and the learned ones who will read the final offering.
“Now to him who is able to do
immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at
work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations for ever and ever! Amen.”
I am a woman, a wife, a mother, a teacher and an aspiring
minister of pastoral care. If you want
to find the thread that runs through all of these titles I am one who is a care
giver and rescuer. I have a lot of love to give to those around me and to those
with whom I come in contact. As Bruce’s
primary care giver I take care of many of the aspects of our lives that I never
did before. I make decisions and fill out lots of paper on his behalf and
translate his wishes or needs when called upon. I am a master of “fix it.” I am
a champion problem solver and the queen of “we will figure it out.” Just ask my
kids, they will tell you. And tonight the first line of my meditation says (in
all capital letters) “ENTRUST YOUR LOVED ONES TO ME. They are much safer with
Me than in your clinging hands.” God is
telling me that I need to stop feeling responsible to fix the person since that
is God’s job and not mine.
As a minister of pastoral care I am taught to be an attentive
listener walk beside the one in my care as they come to their own solutions to their
situations. I am called to pray for them, trust in the unfailing love of God
and God’s wisdom. As I confessed once in
my CPE group “I am not the Savior.” It
is God who works the changes in all our lives and the changes will be beyond
anything we might ask or imagine. Maybe even God will change me into a more
confident academic writer who is not so intimidated. I am just as needy as
those I serve. I am not skilled in the
craft of rehab to help Bruce retrain his brain. But I am skilled in loving him
with all my heart and I can and am walking beside him in encouragement and
unfailing love. When I cannot see the hand of God I trust the heart of God. Take
joy in the journey and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene
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