How do we respect our parents’ right to make their own choices and yet make sure they are in safe situations? How do we get them to stop driving when it is no longer safe for them or for others? Is there a point at which we have to take over the reigns of their lives when they do not want us to? Are we willing to deal with the guilt we feel when we allow them to make life decisions that are not in their best interest? And what about when they live hundreds of miles away from us…should someone move?
In her excellent book about supporting aging parents, Another Country, Mary Pipher makes the following statement: "Adults have always worried about aging parents but our current situation is unique. Never before have so many people lived so far away from the old people they love. And never have old people lived to be so old."
As disciples of Christ, how do we face the aging of our parents? The specific questions we could ask are as varied as the parents we want to help. Thankfully the Scriptures give us some basic guidelines that will help us with those specific situations.
Read more...
As Our Parents Age
Written by Sheila Jones -- Nashville, TN Tuesday, 21 July 2015 12:19
This article was originally published in Life and Godliness for Everywoman, Volume 2.
The dilemma is real. It is heartbreaking. It is confusing. Our parents are the ones who gave us birth and who have cared for us through the years…from changing our smelly diapers to sending us to college…and now they need us to take care of them. It just doesn’t seem right the first time you help your father dress or your mother sit on the toilet. Those are things they are supposed to do for us, aren’t they? This role reversal turns our worlds upside down emotionally.
Published in
Studies, Lessons and Devotionals
