Dad had several health struggles: Kidney stones, multiple allergies, migraines, heart problems, several strokes, etc. But his own struggles never kept him from serving others. My Mom has had MS for about 45 years. Up until about 5 years ago, he cared for her at home, while also working to make a living for them. A little over 4 years ago, we moved Mom to a local care center, and moved Dad in with us. Mom was needing 24 hour care, and it became too physically difficult for him to care for her. It broke his heart to have to leave her in a care center. But we all knew that this was an unwanted necessity.
Dad's living with us was truly a blessing. We never had to take care of him...he took care of us! He always worried about being a burden, but it was impossible for him to be a burden. He was truly a joy. He worried about me and all my health problems. So, knowing that I would have much to do on my days off from work, he would take care of the laundry, vaccuuming, etc. on the day before my days off. No matter how often I told him that I could take care of it, he continued to give his time and efforts to blessing my life. He also wanted to help my husband in some way, so he mowed our lawns and took care of the flower garden.
But he didn't stop there. He always wondered who he could bless in some simple way. Often, I would find him mowing a neighbor's lawn. Sometimes, he would even attach the lawn mower to an old motorized wheelchair, and tow it several blocks to mow a friend's lawn. On trash day, after the trash trucks emptied the cans, he would walk up and down the block to take everyone's trash cans in for them. He still didn't stop there. Often, he would walk several blocks to replace the trash cans of strangers back into their yards. I often heard him lament that he wasn't doing enough for others. Giving service was constantly on his mind. Many of our neighbors still comment about his kindness to them.
