Lift

"Is there something on my back" Caitlin Connolly

Jesus heals the Whole Person

 Have you heard this story?  In the Bible, in Mark 4 Jesus is preaching the Word to some people in a town called Capernaum. Everyone wanted to be there, in that house to hear Jesus speak, to be healed by him, to touch him, to talk to him.

Mark 4: 3  Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. 4 They couldn't get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above his head and lowered the sick man on his stretcher, right down in front of Jesus.

5 When Jesus saw how strongly they believed that he would help, Jesus said to the sick man, “Son, your sins are forgiven!”

Now the point of the story is that Jesus forgave this man of his sins, and then he got up and rolled up his bed and went home. But wait, Jesus also observed the faith of his four friends, in their determination at any cost to help their friend, to love their neighbor. I would say also that there was a blessing for those men. How long do you think that they had helped this man? Did they bathe him, dress him, and feed him? And what of his family?

What about this story, on Mormon Messages: "What if your neighbor asked you to take 20 minutes one night to help him? Would you do it? Most decent people would. But what if he asked you every night following, with no end in sight? Would you be willing to do it? … When would serving your neighbor feel more like servitude?”

That is the question a group of men had to ask themselves when they united to serve their neighbor Kathy, who suffers from the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis. For the past seven years they have lifted Kathy into bed at night. In doing so they have lifted her spirit, as well as their own.Kathy was diagnosed after 16 years of marriage. She assumed her husband would face the challenge with her. He decided he could not and filed for divorce. When her sons grew up, they had to come to her house every night and morning to help her in and out of bed. The work became too much for them to do alone.A group of 50 men—friends, neighbors, and church members—offered to help. Every night, two of them come to get the bedtime routine rolling. They pull off her slippers, adjust her pillows, charge her wheelchair, and place pills on the nightstand. Then they lift her into bed. At first, the men felt awkward about the procedure and burdened by the responsibility.“I felt sympathetic to the situation, but I felt like ‘You know, I’ve got other things I need to deal with,’” one explains.The group discussed how they could help Kathy without having to visit her every night. One of the men said that if the others didn’t want to help, he would do it himself if he had to. That caused a change in attitude among the group. Kathy’s heart has also been touched and changed as a result of the service.“I have seen an even greater compassion. It’s let me know that I’m not forgotten, that I’m still valued, not only to God, but I have worth to give other people in different ways,” she says.

What can you do for someone today? What is your story?

I love this "moment", it really hit the spot. I have been contemplating on how to say "Thank You" to everyone who has helped me and my husband.

 My husband has a chronic illness, and he has been "sick" for a year. At first we thought that after his first hospital stay, he would recover and be well and "return to his "life". But that was not the case, and God has other plans for him and us. The Apostle Peter said: 1 Peter 4:12-13    12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;

13 But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.

What a learning experience this has been and continues to be. We have learned that Heavenly Father really does love his children and just like earthly parents, who would go to the ends of the earth to help their children, and make them well; so does He. But the brilliant part is that He inspires us his children to love one another, and succor one another and be the angel we need at that moment. It is this love that we have for one another, that helps us to heal. My favorite part in this story is when one of the men says that when he works out at the gym, he does dead lifts, but he call's them "Kathy lifts". I see that this man is strengthening himself which is a wise thing to do, but it's great that he felt the motivation to be a "better self", in order to be more effective in serving Kathy.