It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way.
I had to sort of smile at the irony of the title of our new Bible Study books sitting on the table when Mitzi and I walked in on Tuesday.
The reality is, though, that it is this way.
I hesitated to bring Mitzi to Bible Study once it started back up again last week. Her decline, especially emotionally, over November and December has been pretty significant, and I had already let the ladies know not to count on me to be there now, but that I would just have to go by her cues. If we show up, we show up.
Last week and this week, no matter what frame of mind she was in, when I asked if she would like to go to Bible Study at my church, she’d light up and want to go. Since September of 2016, when Mitzi could no longer drive, I’ve been picking her up to take her to Tuesday Morning Bible Study. She has her own church and small group that she loves, but her family agreed that this would be a good way to get her out of the house and connected to others at a time when her opportunities were becoming very limited. This amazing group of women on Tuesdays, who have some of the biggest hearts you’ll find anywhere, have taken Mitzi in and showered her with love and unconditional acceptance every week from 9:30am-11:30am and then any other time they see her. She’s come to our Women’s Retreat, even been featured as one of the “speakers” (via video), and then been part of one of the Pastor’s messages on Sunday morning. She has cried many tears of gratitude for the love she has found at CrossRoad. What a gift!
On Tuesday, though, I’d look over and she would be teary much of the time. Or look worried if she couldn’t see me, so I’d try and get in her line of sight to smile or wave. Staying where she can see me is really important these days or she will get antsy.
During the prayer request time at the end, as I was reading them out loud to the group, I could see Mitzi crying at the table. So, without planning to, I asked the ladies if we could pray for peace, strength, and comfort for Mitzi. Without a second’s hesitation, Mitzi was surrounded by this group of mighty Prayer Warriors, and enveloped in their collective request to bring her peace, thanking God repeatedly for the gift that she is to us.
There is, as of yet, no medical cure for this disease that makes life Not Supposed To Be This Way for millions of people. But the love and light from friends who love you and surround you in the hardest times just might do far greater good than any pharmaceutical fix ever could…????????
