Last year, when I first moved in to care for my mother, I wondered things…. I wondered If she (my mom) were to ask me the same question 42 times in 30 mins, would I be able to engage her and respond patiently…graciously… all 42 times… as if it were the first time…. ?
And the answer to that is, no, not always, and when I don’t, it’s usually at 2am.
2:00am- hearing the sound her walker makes scooting down the tile in the hallway so, I get up.
Me- What ya need mama?
Mom- are you doing OK?
Me- Yes, I’m sleeping. are you doing OK?
Mom- I’m OK, I’m just checking on you.
Me- OK, Good night.
She scoots off back down the hallway.
2:10am- Again, hearing the sound her walker makes scooting down the tile, I get up.
Me- What ya need mama?
Mom- are you doing OK? You sure do sleep a lot.
Me- Yes, It’s the middle of the night, I sleep at night. Are you doing OK?
Mom- Oh! Its the middle of the night?
Me- Yes, yes-it-is…
Mom- Ok, well I’ll just go and let you sleep.
Some variation of this continued every 15 mins or so, for an hour and 1/2, and ya’ll, it was a struggle, I was really starting to lose my cool…
and then I was reminded of the post I made last December,
Lord, help us to put into perspective the hardest moments of the day, to choose humility over irritability, to view others thru the lens of God’s grace…. and to extend kindness, and mercy even when we feel exasperated… EVEN and ESPECIALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!