“…Thou shalt love one another as thyself.” Matthew 22:40 // The Story of Two Women, Conclusion

Last week I began the story of my Mom and her friend Vi.  This week we conclude their story and explore lessons we can take away from it.  In case you missed it, I suggest you go back and review Post 68 from October 4, 2019, before you read this one.  They are two pieces of the same story.

God’s Plan for Mom and Vi.

One of Mom’s traits was that she cared more about others than about herself.  A constant in her life had been the urge to help and care for others.

One night, when she’d gone down to the residence’s dining room for dinner, Mom noticed another woman sitting at a table and eating by herself.  The tables at the retirement home were designed for four to eight diners.  The woman Mom noticed was at a table for four, and although dozens of residents occupied other tables, the woman was alone.

Mom observed the other lady for some time.  Because her own condition was not good, Mom had ceased to be a regular at her own dinner group.  But every time she did attend, she noticed the other woman, and the other woman was always alone.  Something about the other woman’s eating by herself really bothered Mom.

So, one evening, before she even realized what she was doing, Mom found herself walking to the other woman’s’ table.  When she arrived, she said, “Excuse me.  I’ve been watching you eating by yourself for a while now, and I don’t think that anyone should eat alone.  So, may I join you?”    The other woman looked up and said, “Sure!  My name’s Vi, what’s yours?”

Mutual Support.

So, Mom introduced herself and sat down and began to eat with Vi.  They became friends and regular partners at their dinner table.  Because she now again felt needed, Mom started eating more regularly.  She gained some much-needed weight.  She began to pay more attention to her personal appearance.  Her depression lessened, and the progression of her dementia began to slow.

Her friendship with Vi seemed to provide Mom with a new “reason to live.”  She began to connect more regularly with others at the residence and to participate in some of the residence’s organized activities.

As for Vi, she relished her friendship with Mom.  Her despondency lifted, and she no longer felt so alone.  Her new life at the retirement home no longer seemed so empty, and she was able to enjoy the remaining time she spent there.

Lessons Learned.

Some people might attribute Mom’s new-found drive or Vi’s new satisfaction with life to circumstance or to chance.  But I believe that these two women’s stories have deeper, more profound meanings and lessons for us all.

The first is that even when we’ve given up on ourselves, God has not given up on us.  God saw the need these women had and the despair they were in and provided that which they needed to again to be able to enjoy life.  God responded to their prayers in a way neither of them could have imagined.

The second lesson that I take from this story is how deeply Christians need to be in service to other people.  We were not made to serve only ourselves.  God made us to serve Him by serving others.  Christians want to help others and to obey Christ’s admonition that we should, “love one another as yourselves.”

God saw the distress these two women were in and provided a way for them to serve one another, and in the process, to serve Him as well.  He provided a means for them to escape their mutual feelings of loss and disconnection.

Until Vi’s and Mom’s children left home and their husbands passed away, they’d both always had someone to take care of who needed them.  With their children and husbands gone, they felt themselves no longer needed, and that they could no longer be of any use to others.  I believe that God put these two women in each other’s path so that they could minister to each other when they couldn’t minister to themselves.  Their act of serving one another healed them both.

Another lesson I take from their shared story is that no matter how down or desperate we may become, no matter how difficult our own circumstances may be, God can always use us to help someone who needs help and will always provide someone for us to help.  Thus, we are never truly worthless or useless.

We are always worth something to God, and because of that, there will always someone who we can be worth something to.  Because God made us one for another, we should never feel unneeded.

Finally, I believe their stories demonstrate that we are never out of God’s sight and care.  He continuously watches over us and provides opportunities for us to help others, just as He provides opportunities to others to help us when we need it.  We may or may not recognize those opportunities, and sometimes we don’t respond when we do recognize them.  But God gives those to us all, nevertheless.

Last Thoughts.

God gave each of these women what she needed.  He gave comfort to Vi and then gave her and Mom to each other so they could fulfill each other’s needs.  In their story, I see God in action and His willingness to provide miracles, even if they are “small” or subtle.

Vi passed away a couple of years after she and Mom met.  And Mom has since gone on to her own reward.  But their stories of God’s intervention in their lives and the ways they were able to meet each other’s needs continue to amaze me.  There are miracles everywhere.  We only have to watch for them.

God’s Blessings on You All.

Richard

October 11, 2019