Promises

This morning my email contained a message from the nursing home, saying that my mother did fine over the weekend, and was already "taking care" of her roommate.

Almost three years ago, I went for a walk in the morning, very depressed by what I heard in my mother's words and voice. While Howie and I walked out beyond the houses and neighborhood, I cried, not knowing what to do. Then, through an unexpected patter of raindrops, I saw a rainbow in the sky.

Seeing it, I remembered God's promise to Noah, sending his "bow" in the sky to remind us that he would never again destroy the earth by flood. I took that rainbow as a promise to me, that day, that everything would work out the way it should, that God holds all of us, all of our circumstances in his hand.

And so He has. Had my sister simply settled into life at the group home, and not become ill, I would never have known about the nursing home called The Hearthside; my mother would have sunk deeper into dementia and I would not have had any personal contact to reach out to her. But my sister's suffering allowed me to get to know the personnel at the Hearthside, and prepare a welcoming place for my mother when the time came.

Thanks, Jan. You forged a path for us.

Thank You, God, for your mercy and your providence.