April 30, 2013
Honor your mother and father so it will go well with you and you will have a long life on the earth. Commandment #5—the only commandment that has a promise attached to it. Honor your parents and "everything will be well with you." If that is true, then the reverse would be true as well. Dishonor your parents, and you are guaranteeing things will not go "well with you."
Pretty ironic that I am reading this while we are absolutely buried under the weight of honoring our parents, but I would not have it any other way. While we are most definitely carrying a huge load, it is with joy, love, and our privilege to do so. It is getting closer and closer to the time when my husband's parents are going to have to move to assisted living. Our number one priority is their safety. The bonus promise God attached to His commandment is nice, but we would do the same things we are doing right now with or without the promise. The reward is in the giving. You sleep well and you have no regrets when you know you have treated your parents with respect and honor. The memories of your time together are sweet. I am so grateful for the time we invested in my Dad's life and are now investing in Mom and my husband's parents' lives. When we honor our parents we are honoring God, and it doesn't get any better than that!
Frustrating at times? Yes. Ready to throw up my hands at times? Yes. But, happy to do it? Absolutely.
From what we know about my sister's behavior and my brother-in-law's behavior with his mother and her estate, I would sure hate to be in their shoes. I don't want to miss out on God's promise of blessings for those who honor their parents.
Addendum: 7/16/2018 ~ My sister has totally abandoned our mother. She has not called my Mom more than once or twice in the past several years and when she did call, the call only lasted for a few minutes. (We know this because we provide Mom with a cell phone and there has been no phone calls in over a year. Mom's land line phone is connected with my brother's home which is right next door and there has been no phone calls to the land line number either.) When Mom tried to call her she either doesn't answer or doesn't return the call. Mom is almost 89.
My sister has no idea Mom has recently begun to struggle with some memory issues and she has no idea Mom is declining physically as well. The past several months have been difficult as my brother and I have worked together to try and figure out what is best for our Mother. My brother and I are doing everything we can to honor our Mother and give her the best quality of independent living we can. My sister doesn't care—at all. She sends Mom a long rambling letter (written jointly to both my Mom and another lady) about twice a year. The letters are all about what she is doing, where she is going, etc., but there is no personal contact or concern. There is no "honoring" of our Mother. There is only abandonment.
Update: Mom passed away 8/31/18. See the 3/27/19 Addendum for: A Mother's Love
Next Entry: Ephesians 6:1–24 (Continued)
Honor your mother and father so it will go well with you and you will have a long life on the earth. Commandment #5—the only commandment that has a promise attached to it. Honor your parents and "everything will be well with you." If that is true, then the reverse would be true as well. Dishonor your parents, and you are guaranteeing things will not go "well with you."
Pretty ironic that I am reading this while we are absolutely buried under the weight of honoring our parents, but I would not have it any other way. While we are most definitely carrying a huge load, it is with joy, love, and our privilege to do so. It is getting closer and closer to the time when my husband's parents are going to have to move to assisted living. Our number one priority is their safety. The bonus promise God attached to His commandment is nice, but we would do the same things we are doing right now with or without the promise. The reward is in the giving. You sleep well and you have no regrets when you know you have treated your parents with respect and honor. The memories of your time together are sweet. I am so grateful for the time we invested in my Dad's life and are now investing in Mom and my husband's parents' lives. When we honor our parents we are honoring God, and it doesn't get any better than that!
Frustrating at times? Yes. Ready to throw up my hands at times? Yes. But, happy to do it? Absolutely.
From what we know about my sister's behavior and my brother-in-law's behavior with his mother and her estate, I would sure hate to be in their shoes. I don't want to miss out on God's promise of blessings for those who honor their parents.
Addendum: 7/16/2018 ~ My sister has totally abandoned our mother. She has not called my Mom more than once or twice in the past several years and when she did call, the call only lasted for a few minutes. (We know this because we provide Mom with a cell phone and there has been no phone calls in over a year. Mom's land line phone is connected with my brother's home which is right next door and there has been no phone calls to the land line number either.) When Mom tried to call her she either doesn't answer or doesn't return the call. Mom is almost 89.
My sister has no idea Mom has recently begun to struggle with some memory issues and she has no idea Mom is declining physically as well. The past several months have been difficult as my brother and I have worked together to try and figure out what is best for our Mother. My brother and I are doing everything we can to honor our Mother and give her the best quality of independent living we can. My sister doesn't care—at all. She sends Mom a long rambling letter (written jointly to both my Mom and another lady) about twice a year. The letters are all about what she is doing, where she is going, etc., but there is no personal contact or concern. There is no "honoring" of our Mother. There is only abandonment.
Update: Mom passed away 8/31/18. See the 3/27/19 Addendum for: A Mother's Love
Next Entry: Ephesians 6:1–24 (Continued)
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