Dementia

My parents left for Colorado early this morning, leaving me on Grandma duty. Grandma duty involves making 3 meals every day, going to her house 3x a day to be sure that she eats the meals, making sure she has all her medications at the right times, making sure she's changing clothes and bathing, etc. Now, I'm not complaining about this duty, or belittling her in any way. It's been hard watching an incredibly bright, intelligent warrior of God slowly lose her memory over the last few years. Even though she has difficulty remembering from minute to minute what has just been said, a change in schedule and caretaker can really throw her into deeper confusion. Over the last few days, Mom and I were at the beach for our church Ladies' Retreat, and Dad was caring for her. Now Mom and Dad left, and I'm caring for her.

Pretty much everything in her kitchen(where she spends the most time) is labeled:

-lunch: turkey sandwich with apple
-dinner: shrimp with potato wedges and watermelon
-to make coffee, push button
-gas has been turned off to stove
-don't eat until Julie arrives and gives meds
etc. ,etc.

This morning, I wrote a note saying that Mom and Dad were in CO and that I would be helping her this week with her meals. Somehow, that wording confused her, and as a result, every time that she reads that note(accompanied with my cell ph. no.), I get a phone call asking why I'm going to be helping with her meals. You see, she doesn't remember that she hasn't cooked in well over a year. So, eight hours after writing the note, I've received seven phone calls.
 
And it made me think about us, as Christians, and how many times we live our Christian lives as if we have dementia. We forget about God's love. We forget about His salvation; that we were saved from the penalty of sin, that we're currently being saved from the power of sin, and that we will be saved from the presence of sin. We have the power to break free from the sin that so easily weighs us down and walk in the freedom of life that He has given us. But sometimes we forget, don't we? We forget that He paid it all so that we can walk in newness of life. We struggle, barely making it from day to day, weighed down with the hardships of living in this world.

And that's why He left us notes. They're all over the place; notes of His power, notes of His love, notes of His mercy, forgiveness, and truth. He's thrown them lavishly around, so that we can't possibly miss them. They're found in the beauty of nature, in the blessings of friendship, in the closeness of a hug, and in the truths of Scripture- written down for us to see. Do you see them?

Open your eyes, and look around. Do you see God's notes of love that surround you, saying, "I LOVE you, more than you can possibly ever imagine- I. Love. You."