Dress Her Need

As I was praying for my Kathy this morning, I kind of tripped over a word. I said, "Dress her great need" instead of "Address." I was about to correct it when I realized how fitting it was. There's what I've come to think of as a low grade fever in this season of her life. Caring for her husband after his stroke with the greatest and most tender compassion, she has been his sole caregiver and is constantly vigilant about his condition and anything that might aggravate it. His care, his comfort, his well-being is what I hear from her in every email. She is his champion, and whether he's aware of it or not, Heaven sees and knows.

Her sweet husband was recently hospitalized and in a coma. Long story short, she waited for days through test after test to determine the cause, she was given the duties of a nurse because of shorthandedness, and then made to be the bad guy for telling family that their long visits were exhausting him and protracting the treatments. They recommended a nursing home, but she insisted on taking him back home. She told me, "Maybe someone will do me the same kindness someday."

Tasks from the most mundane (dressing him) to the more arduous (crating around the wheelchair and navigating through foreign airports) are hers to do alone. None of his family have risen to the occasion. Somehow they just do not get it. I hear all this not through clenched teeth and raised fist, but with a sigh. I actually think she pities them for their small hearts and short minds. I have known this woman for 14 years, and she honestly lives a life founded on the compassion that is Christ and the actions that come from a sincere and yielded heart.

I know she would poo-poo all this and tell me I'm exaggerating and making her out to be superwoman, but she is my hero. I am touched to the core to call her my friend. In the midst of everything she's going through, she gifts me with her frequent updates, makes me laugh, and now she's sending me something in the shape of a heart that I look forward to getting in the mail soon.* God bless her!

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* Back when her husband had a stroke, I would pray for her daily, and then again every time I saw something in the shape of a heart. They would come in all varieties--a cloud, a rock, a garden stone, stationery, chocolate, an ice chip, spilled milk (not even kidding), etc. I saved one rock that I especially liked and took a picture of this ice chip that fell out of my glass. Cool way for Him to keep her close in my heart and mind. I am grateful.