|
|
|
Nursing home, anyone? By
KNOX HERNDON When I was growing up in our family, there were certain issues that would certainly spark discussion. If one mentioned the words "nursing home," it was unspoken but understood that our family values would, to the best of our ability, not let that happen. "To the best of our ability" really meant "no way." In other words, we might discuss one another and even disagree with each other but the family was loyal to each other and that loyalty meant we would take care of each other no matter what. If one wanted to get into a strong red-faced "discussion," one needed to take the side of the argument that "someday that might just be necessary." But deep down inside, we knew that until the last breath, with the enemy swarming over the top, we would hold out in opposition to that theory. Those ideas and values were comfortable to me because we were always a family that looked to God and our faith background for answers to life. We prayed over a lot of issues. We would pray when we got up in the morning with, "this is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." We unashamedly would bow our heads and thank Almighty God for our food, whether it be in our home or in a crowded public restaurant. This was always accompanied by us holding hands in the process. It's really great to turn a public restaurant into a glorious prayer meeting. Ha! I love to give the ACLU some battleground issues along with all their other "ash heap of history" ideas they come up with to "help America find its way!" We would pray when we took a trip for "journey's mercies." We prayed when we took the hundreds of tests in school. We prayed for our country and its leadership. We prayed for the souls of mankind when tragedy struck, that through the tragedy people would somehow find Christ. We prayed for the Church universally that they (we) would keep our focus on Christ and to make the main things the plain things. We knew that in every friendship and relationship we had with friends in the secular world, that the friendship or relationship should somehow, be used to share Christ. We learned that without Christ our brothers and sisters were what the Bible stated "lost." That wasn't our idea; it was what God's Word said. I am sharing all this to frame a reference to the nursing home. In the near future we will be having to make a decision for a relative who needs this care. These decisions, as with all the other important decisions of our family, will not be done in a prayerless vacuum. There may come a time when all that we know to be right will come into question in some very hard decisions of life like the nursing home scenario. This happened with both my mother and my father. It came when absolutely all avenues had been explored and tried. It finally came down to the decision that we no longer could provide the best care for them in the home and to keep them there was becoming detrimental to their health. Yet when those prayerful sad decisions were finally made, God was there to sustain and pick up the pieces. Most of this "anguish" may sound unimportant or even silly to some, but if you had a very close family with strong values in these areas, these were and are tough decisions. After they went to be with the Lord, two things sustained us all. The first was a strong faith in the sovereignty of God. This was expressed in that scripture about that "peace that passes all understanding." This peace was really wonderful. It reminded me of the Children of Israel wondering for 40 years in the search for the Promised Land when they ran out of food. You know the story: Moses prayed and God sent the manna for them to eat. There was something very special about the manna. As you remember from Sunday School, they only were allowed to gather the manna for one days use. If they gathered more it spoiled. This is the way for me that "the peace that passes all understanding" is. It was and is for me, just enough for that particular day, that particular situation. You can't store it up, but it is always there and never late. I ask for your prayers as we make these lifelong family decisions once again. We will once again, hold hands, in faith believing, and petition Heaven. It is what our faith has taught us to do. The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon is pastor of His House Community Church (SBC). The Rev. Greg Mausz is senior associate pastor. The Rev. Dr. Lydia Herndon is the Sunday School superintendent, Bible study coordinator and teacher. The church is just below Fayetteville, on Ga. Highway 85, a mile south of Ga. Highway 16, just below the fire station. Visitors welcome. Church office and prayer line 770-719-2365; e-mail KHERN2365@aol.com. The church's new Web site is www.hishousecommunitychurch.com.
|
||