To Whom should I thank for all I've received?

To Whom should I thank for all that I’ve received?

Of course if I forget that the Lord gives without cost or even remembrance of my forgiveness  when he absolves me, day in and day out, I am missing the basic principle of God’s love.  This goes beyond the blessings from his mercy.  Who is it that has bent over backwards to ensure that I am well taken care of and am living outside of nursing care, should that time come.  

Once reality arrives where my wife and I are in our late eighties and can do little more than do the minimum biological needs and sit down for dinner, there is a thought that surrounds our basic functions that says, “someone is watching over you beyond the spiritual and physical needs that come from God.”

A poetic adverse that explains a lot regarding our life at this stage of the game of life:  

My daughter, her husband, my wife and me,

Through the trial we adhered as the house caught fire.

Standing outside watching the flames billow through the roof,

Our thoughts became what next for two eighty + year olds?

Then I thought of a scripture verse:  “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.”  (Dt 5: 16).

From house on fire to a month in a hotel, to a rented house and finally 8 months later moving back to our original home.  All this time we were fed, kept warm at night, and treated like the parents every older person ponders to receive.  

Our Daughter and her husband never once balked at taking us to live with them long before the fire and looking for places to reside until the fire damage was completed for a return home.

It is good to give a testimony to children already in their 50’s and still working to keep the home fires burning while treating elderly parents as their own children; with love and concern and not missing a beat as needs are different with older parents.  

I wonder how many instances like this are going on in a world filled with greed and little if any time left for parents who find themselves needing canes, walkers, and a safe place to lay their heads at night?

This is a pre-expectation of what eternal life with God will be like.  I often wonder what else we can do to show our thankfulness and love to these children who took time to look after us and have promised neither one will ever see the inside of a nursing home!

Ralph B. Hathaway