Forget Me Not

How did those pretty blue flowers come to be called by that name, Lord?

Wikipedia notes a legend from medieval times.  A knight and his lady were walking along the side of a river.  He picked some flowers, but because of the weight of his armor he fell into the river  As he was drowning, he threw the flowers to his loved one and shouted, “Forget me not!”

I wish my memory was better, Lord.

I was decorating our Christmas tree today.  I really enjoy “digging” into the several boxes we have filled with ornaments.  Ornaments we have collected for over thirty years.

It’s like rediscovering old friends after not seeing them for a whole year.  It’s a warm, familiar feeling.

There’s only one problem.  I can’t remember where some of them came from.

Some were store bought.  Some were gift decorations re-purposed for this new use.  But most of them were gifts from various  friends over the years.

I know every ornament by heart.  But I don’t remember every giver.  If I did, I could tell stories about them every year as I decorate.  Hanging memories on the tree instead of just ornaments.

But there’s no going back.  Not now.

I was with a precious friend a few days ago whose mother has dementia.  She was in anguish.  Her mother has forgotten my friend — her very own daughter.

I can’t imagine how hard that must be.  But I didn’t have to imagine it.  I got a glimpse of it through the wrenching sobs of my friend.

“Forget me not, Mom… please!”

She doesn’t usually talk about it.  But Your Presence, Lord, was “heavy” in the room that day.  Heavy in a good way.  The way that said, “The time for hiding burdens is over.”

You had assembled a few people that day.  It was the first day my friend was willing to let us know the pain she had been hiding for so long.  Why did it not surprise me that, after she revealed her secret, we discovered two others among us who had walked the very same, painful road with their own parents?

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”  (Galatians 6:2)

Thank You for the words of encouragement You gave us, Lord, as we sought to comfort our friend.  Turning her heart and her hope toward You.  And toward the most powerful force on the planet:  Your Love.

“Greater love has no one than this:  to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  (John 15:13)

It’s what You did for us, Lord.  You laid down Your life… so that we might live.  Is this now what You are calling my friend to do?

It is an odd thing when roles are reversed.  When the care receiver becomes the care giver. When a daughter becomes a “mother” to her own mom.

There is a “season” during which words are useless to babies.  They have not yet mastered language.  But communication does not cease.  On the contrary, it is sensedpowerfully.

There is a mother-daughter bond that is stronger and deeper than science can fully explain.  Maybe that’s why You moved us to pray over this dear friend.  Asking You to give her the capacity to love, love, love her mother… even if her mother doesn’t recognize her.

Asking You to strengthen her to say all the things she longs to say to a mom who still understands… even if she seems oblivious to her presence.

“[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails… And now these three remain:  Faith, Hope and Love.  But the greatest of these is Love.”  (1 Corinthians 13:7,13)

Suddenly, I had a picture in my mind.  Of a future day when both mother and daughter are in Heaven.  And the mother gives her the greatest gift possible.  Telling her daughter how much these seemingly one-sided conversations had meant to her.

Because she understood every word… and was deeply blessed.

A Future Hope!  Making the weight of her Present Reality more… bearable.

“Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”  (1 Corinthians 13:12b)

For all those who have “lost” loved ones who are still nearby…

For all those who need supernatural grace to embrace and impart Your Unfailing Love…

I say,

“May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.  May He send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support… May the Lord grant all your requests.”  (Psalm 20:1-2,5b)

Abba’s Girl

 

 

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