When I was a little girl, my Uncle Bob would take a pick axe to a rocky outcropping up by the barn. He’d pick away and dig out wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow load of rock then spend hours with a sledgehammer busting it into gravel. He would load that gravel up in his wheelbarrow and fill in the driveway a couple times a year. He was a hard worker and I was always proud of that nicely graveled drive up past the house at the farm. As I walk down to get the mail and the newspaper, I look down and that rock is still there, pressed firmly in the earth, mossy ground covering winding between the gray stones, and I think of my sweet Uncle Bob. Grandma had chicken pox or measles when she was pregnant with him and he was born with a developmental disability. He was without guile…the sweetest angel unawares.
Just as my uncle chipped away at the stony outcropping, I chipped away yesterday at the nagging problem of how to have an uncomfortable conversation with my aunt. I asked God in church yesterday to send the Holy Spirit to speak through me. I asked my pastor to pray for the situation. And, I rehearsed scenarios as I drove across the state. I don’t like uncomfortable conversations, so at the last minute as I walked in the house, I asked God to take away any discomfort. And, He did! I sat and visited for awhile. I showed pictures of what I’m doing in the house. Then I asked my aunt why her friend would think I was coming to live with her. That gave her the out she needed. She said she could understand how her friend might have misinterpreted what she said but that wasn’t her intention. As with many things, my sweet cousin Suzy hit the nail on the head yesterday when she commented that I could express my concerns but the bottom line is, fleas and all, it’s my aunt’s decision to make as long as she has the faculties. And, after my discussion with her yesterday, I came to the conclusion that while this is not the ideal scenario, she will come back to the farm…at least for a while. My uncle and I both get the feeling she wants to come back to say goodbye. And that is valid. I promised him that, while I cannot live there while she is there, I am more than happy to go out once or twice a week to bring her food, check on her, and make sure she has clean sheets on the bed. That is the very least I can do…for her AND for my uncle. I feel it is my Christian duty. And, I feel pretty good about that.
❤️
““Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8 NIV