I have been preaching at you all for the last nearly four years to “go with the flow”. Stop standing in the middle of the stream trying to hold the waters back. Just turn around and go where God leads you.

Most of the time, this is excellent advice. But sometimes…sometimes you have to be a salmon. You have to jump the rapids to come out on top. You have to fight and scramble your way upstream to get the goods. That’s happening a lot in my life right now. My aunt wants to come home to the farm to live. She thinks I’m going to live there and take care of her. I don’t know where she got that, but I just can’t. We tried that and it did not work for either of us. And, she cannot live there alone. The place is falling apart around her and she can’t take care of herself, let alone a big farm house. And…there’s the matter of these tenacious fleas. We need to discuss alternatives. It isn’t going to be easy, but I have to travel to see her today and have “the talk”.

How hard it must be to lose your independence, piece by bloody piece. Our independence is the last bastion of self. When they take that away, who are we? I want to present her with appealing options. I want to show her there are ways to live independently yet still have assistance when you need it. Help with meals and cleaning. Perhaps public transportation, socialization, field trips. I want her to see the love that I have for her. I don’t want her to feel trapped or that I’m trying to take something away from her. I want the “pros” column to be MUCH longer than the “cons”.

I want her to be happy. She has done a lot for this family in her life. She helped my mom financially. She lived with my grandma and my uncle till they died, taking such good care of them. She deserves a life better than sitting alone on the farm, wasting away to nothing, unable to drive or shop or cook or clean or do any of the maintenance things that need doing. I pray I can be convincing and keep her dignity intact. I pray God will bring me the right words to say to her. I pray he will bring me “salmon angels” to lead me up the ladders so I can help her have the best life possible.

❤️

“For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭21:15‬ ‭NIV‬‬