“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.” Psalm 51:12 The first four letters of willing forms two words that asks a question?, “Will I?’
“God having placed good and evil in our power, has given us full freedom of choice. He does not keep back the unwilling, but embraces the willing.” John Chrysoston. Another quote states, “Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you.” William Dyer. Peter Farguhurson stated, “Relationship of trust depends on our willingness to look not only to our own interests, but also the interest of others.”
Will I put her needs before my own? Will I serve God by being a good caregiver? Yet how true is this quote when it comes to care-giving. “We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.” Mother Theresa.
“Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you are not willing to move your feet.” Anonymous. Lastly, “Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you become.”
As a daughter-in-law, I am not the primary caregiver. The day in day out care does not fall on my shoulders. However, I do give care at times. I see her failing in health. I see our role becoming more difficult as she becomes less independent. Her world changes, she is legally blind, she is hard of hearing, and now she is having trouble breathing and needs oxygen. I am a nurse by training yet I am not a nurse here but I see the downward spiral perhaps I am more keenly aware that she is becoming less active. I struggle with her decline, it is beyond my control. I have no clear boundary in my role. But I am willing. Yes, I will.
