Sunday, November 23, 2014

Learning to Love...Better Late than Never






                                                                  {five generations}

There is no doubt about it, everybody has a different definition of what love is, how it acts, how it should work and maybe more than anything...it seems to be summed up better in one's mind as to what LOVE isn't!!

With life full of disappointments, trials, seasons of pain and of bitterness and frustration, real love can take a backseat and become all about what is in it for us. Love, as God intended it to be, is to be willing to give everything while expecting nothing in return.

It wasn't too long ago that I read this quote, "LOVE your parents.  We are so busy growing up, we often forget they are also growing old."  {author unknown}  For some strange reason, it went right through my heart like a sharp knife stinging at the thought of how selfish I can get in very little time.
We have a tendency to get overly busy with our lives, our families, our children, our vacations, our jobs, our responsibilities, our friends, our...our...OUR.  YES, it is easy  to assume our parents would rather be alone, watch their evening shows, go to bed at 7pm, not be bothered with our craziness, our drama and everything else that has been methodically filed away in our pre-conceived ideas of the elderly.

It took me a few minutes to gather my thoughts and to have a "COME to JESUS MEETING" with myself.
Why is it so easy to love feeling loved and yet so difficult to take the extra steps to make others feel exactly how we thrive on being treated?
If you are wondering how on earth to love, just think about the ways others love you and if you are feeling unloved, insignificant and have no idea where to start...think about how you would like to be cared for and find somebody who needs it.

It just so happens that over the last little bit, my momma tank has been filled to the tippy top, to the point of overflowing. Our children have been stopping in to just check on me when my sweetie has been on long work shifts, calling to chat, inviting me to dinner, bringing the new grand puppy over for some grammy cuddles and the list goes on.  I have felt so loved.so needed,so valuable. I asked God to really slow my heart down and have asked Him to nudge me to be more sensitive to my parents and to my in.laws. because, as young as they are, they are getting older and they need their children to contribute to them feeling LOVED.NEEDED.VALUED.

It has taken me a long time to really get it and I am far from mastering this, but somehow, through the extra tlc, I have been shown, it makes me long to really love.  More importantly, I want to clear some of the "busy" and make a concerted effort to bless them by saying "yes" to tea on Saturday, "yes" to Sunday night family dinners, taking them dinner and taking a nap on their recliner {because my momma loves when I relax in their home!!} baking them cookies, taking them to doctor appointments, helping with extra housework, helping organize their garage, taking things they no longer need to goodwill, taking the mommas flowers just because, taking them on field trips to see the Christmas lights, helping them with celebrations in their homes...It is a simple act of "washing their feet".  Jesus set the example:


"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet." John 13:14



{four generations}


With this week being Thanksgiving, thank God for your parents...and if they are no longer with you, maybe you can find a special somebody who is GROWING OLDER who needs to feel loved, valued and needed.  How can you encourage them?

I am already excited about the next time my momma offers to spend the night when my sweetie is working...and we will cuddle in our big.ole.bed and fall asleep talking til our speech slows down as we drift to sleep...because this busy girl wants their growing older years to be THE BEST years of their lives. 



1 comment:

  1. A beautiful post and a fantastic photo! You are so very fortunate to still have your parents and in.laws. As someone that is older (I'm not mentally! Lol) the things you've listed are so valuable and "time" is the greatest gift to offer another. Life is so fragile and we need to show love at every opportunity.

    xo
    Pat

    ReplyDelete