“Honour your father and your
mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your
God is giving you”. Exodus 20:12
On
the 21st July, 2015 in the early hours of the morning, Daddy called Justina. He
had tried reaching me but I have a habit of switching off my phones before going
to bed at night and at this time, I had not turned them on. When he finally
spoke to me, he gave me the news…
My
maternal Grandmother had passed on. She was over 90years old. Probably even
close to 100 years old.
I
wasn’t sad. She was quite old, and the eternal rest was well deserved. However,
I had this feeling of melancholy; maybe regret.
When
my mother went to be with the lord in 2009, I was unhappy because I felt she didn’t
live long enough to enjoy the fruits of her labour. My siblings and I had
barely started working at that time so we were not able to bless my mother as
we would have loved to. During the burial ceremony for my mother, we met with
her parents. At that point, I had promised myself that I would do all within my
power to ensure that I seized every opportunity to bless my grandparents in
their last days. Somehow, I got trapped in the daily struggle of living that I forgot
about these little things that should matter. The only time I sent cash to my
grandparents were on those occasions when my father requested that my siblings
and I do so. I kept believing that I would have an opportunity to bless my
grandparents before they departed earth…the opportunity to so bless my
grandmother never came.
I
wished I had known her more; maybe even spent more time with her and I wished I
had the means to make her last days a little nicer. God knows best.
I
still have my maternal grandfather alive…I still have another opportunity to
redeem myself. Honouring your parents comes with a blessing and I am not going
to short-change myself.
“It’s
best to give people roses when they can still smell it”
Every
breath God gives you and every day he adds to your years is another opportunity
to bless people. You never know when the end shall come. There is no worse pain
than the regret of a life not fully lived, love not abundantly given and joy
not freely shared. I have learnt my lessons. I shall cherish all my loved ones
every second and every day the lord gives me.
When
I was done writing this particular post, grief filled my heart. And I wept, O! I
wept hard.
O!
Lord I look up to you for your blessings.
“But if anyone does not provide
for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith
and is worse than an unbeliever”. 1 Timothy 5:8
Are
your grandparents still alive? What efforts have you made in taking care of
them? What are your thoughts on caring for grandparents? Do share.
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