A few weeks ago I wrote twenty-seven hundred miles, and I concluded it by saying,
“May all of us live in the moment and find ways to experience and worship Him.”
In recent weeks I have visited two friends who have gone to live in special care homes because they are dealing with dementia, and their wives of many years are unable to provide any longer the care they need. One of the friends I visited was a bit agitated. He paced and wondered what he should do next.
The other one sat quietly, and when we talked about where he was born and grew up he smiled and remembered the names of people he had known long ago.
I felt for my friends, but I felt even more for the women who loved them and had experienced life with them.
And I was reminded once again about the importance of living in the moment. We don’t know what turns life will take. We can’t change the past or determine what will happen in the future, but we can choose to live in the moment.
As I live in the moment I want to:
love well
enjoy our children and grandchildren
be optimistic
appreciate beauty
make the little space I live in better because I live there
value simple things
forgive when needed
live in the present with hope
**********
Janelle here. I can’t help myself. I have to add a bit to what Dad has written so beautifully. First of all, it snowed here for the first time this winter, and I am totally drooling over the picture of Dad and Bailey, out for a summer walk on what looks like a lovely warm day!
Snow. Brrr.
Dad’s post today, which is part of the My Dad and Me series that Dad and I write together, fits so wonderfully into my 31 days to loving my home series. (You can find links to both of these series of posts at the top of the page.)
The reminder to live in the moment, to take life as it comes and to experience it as fully as possible, is timely. It’s easy to not do this. It’s easy to drift and miss out.
What better inspiration to appreciate the abundant blessings of my home and family than to hear the stories of men, friends of my dad, who can live no longer in their homes. Who can live no longer with their wives. Whose very memories of home and love have diminished.
Can I just say here, for all of you to hear, how amazing my parents are? They spend hours and hours caring for, visiting with, taking baking to, meeting for coffee… so many of these precious elderly souls.
Thank you, Dad, for this reminder today.
May all of us live in the moment and find ways to experience and worship Him.
October 23, 2012 at 9:58 am
Wise words Indeed. your Mum and Dad sound lovely.
Snow already! oh my goodness what a long winter if its starting already. There is such a lack of light here I feel my body going into hibination mode once I get Jake from school its hard to get much get up and go going.
October 23, 2012 at 10:01 am
I know, my natural inclination tends toward hibernation, too.
October 23, 2012 at 11:34 am
Snow! How wonderful… yes, I live where we do not get much snow and for someone who loves the white stuff it is always exciting to hear of it! Granted it has been years since I have had to shovel and dig out. Your family sounds so wonderful and to have parents who reflect and show as an example of ministry is a true gift.
October 23, 2012 at 1:09 pm
I falter a bit with the first snow. I know it means the beginning of a long season of cold, shorter days, and challenges with driving and such. But my youngest son couldn’t wait to find his snow clothes and get out there to play! Made me smile.
October 23, 2012 at 2:28 pm
I would have been right out there with him… When we lived in Maine I loved the winter and the frigid temperatures… snow is great!
October 23, 2012 at 11:36 am
It is so very cool to be reading your Dad’s words on a day when we are enjoying my Dad being here. I believe, in spite of his diminishing memory he had also decided to live in the moment every day. He is gentle and appreciative of every act of kindness toward him…he is thoughtful in his prayers and truly thankful that he is being cared about by so many…on our trip home he noticed nearly every burst of fall colour as we traveled, and shared many memories from past travels through similar or the same roads, and I was/am so thankful to be enjoying him…
October 23, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Your dad has had much practice in living with appreciation and conscious thankfulness. You describe him as I’ve always known him! I’m so happy for you to have this time with him.
October 23, 2012 at 7:24 pm
You made me well up, both of you. Life is really very fleeting and not to be taken for granted but we still do. If only we could, just for a moment, every day, find that space to just be, we would be so much happier for it, wouldn’t we?
October 24, 2012 at 8:21 am
Yes, I agree. Living is about being present in what life is offering me right now! Of course, I am imperfect in my attempt to be this.
October 24, 2012 at 8:39 am
Yes.. me too.. I manage it for an hour or so each day but mostly I am thinking planning and plotting.
October 25, 2012 at 12:44 pm
O how I to love to read your blogs. David, Shirley and you girls are part of of WCC heritage that we will cherish forever.
October 25, 2012 at 7:06 pm
Thanks, Lew. So nice to hear you read it! Thanks for letting me know. We were just talking about your dad. I was telling my boys how generous he was to us kids at Hallowe’en. If we kept singing, he kept putting treats in the bag! So many great memories from those days!