10. JOY IS ONLY A PIE AWAY.

I once heard a pastor’s wife teach on joy. What was it in life that would give us joy, when we were struggling to find it? What was the secret She was sharing that, for her, the greatest joy came from serving others. When we give unselfishly, with no regard for gain, it is freeing. When we take our eyes off of ourselves and onto others, we find that joy has crept quietly back into our life and heart.
One of the best examples my boys have ever witnessed of servitude is seeing PoppaBob and GrammaBeth in their element. They have been committed to the same church and community most all of my life, and have been excellent role models in quiet and consistent servitude. PoppaBob has been caring for the elderly, driving them to church, visiting them at home, for over 30 years. He could write a book as an expert on finding an acceptable nursing home, and making dog-gone sure they remain acceptable once his friend or family member was a resident. He is meticulous. We have watched him serve and take care of two elderly sisters within the church, both of whom never married. When they could no longer drive, he and GrammaBeth would take them to church on Sundays, and visit them regularly, becoming as close as family.
Once the sisters were in assisted living homes, we went with PoppaBob to visit them each time we were in town. It was so wonderful for my boys to meet ladies that had 102 and 100 years of experience here in this world, and loved our visits. The boys learned to get out of themselves and devote some time to caring for, listening to and honoring another.
When we would visit, the ladies loved for GrammaBeth to bake them a pie. They missed the baking at home and she always used their original recipes. My boys would say, “Why do they always get to eat pie?” GrammaBeth would reply, “When you are their age, you can pretty much eat anything you want!” So we would take them a pie, or a new dress they had requested, and sit and visit. It always amazed me that the staff and all the tenants knew PoppaBob very well and expected his daily visits.
I watched him devote his time with the sisters, as well as all of my aging grandparents, and the myriad of responsibilities involved in their care. He cared for and visited his mother, daily, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, and had not seemed to recognize him for years. Even as painful as that was, I know now there was still a quiet joy in knowing you are doing what you feel called to do to meet another’s basic needs, showing love and honor and respect.
It is one of the best experiences and examples for my boys, and entire family to partake, and hopefully will stay with us we enter our own golden years. If I ever get to that crossroad of despair, wondering where in the world I will ever see joy again, I only need to look outside of my own comfort zone and find another person who has some needs to be met, someone who could benefit from my caring, listening and maybe even baking.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 20th, 2009 at 10:51 pm and is filed under boys, home Life, hope, parenting, values. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.