Together we stand. And laugh. And love. And learn. And sometimes break down and cry. Together.
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“We are never given more than we can handle. Just sometimes, more than we can handle alone.” ~From Just Blow It Up: Firepower for Living an Unlimited Life
My dad was funny about asking for help. Anyone could ask him for help — he was the first to volunteer when someone needed a tire changed, or something heavy moved, or a ride to the doctor 10 miles away. But he only asked for help if there was no other option. And something behind his eyes seemed to shrink in size every time he had to face that choice.
He reminded us often, “The Lord doesn’t give us more than we can handle.”
Then his cancer came back. In the bone.
The Lord had finally given him one thing he could not handle without help.
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Once I had watched him pick up the hitch of a loaded trailer and move it by willpower alone. Now I watched as he made his painful way from the living room to his bed, first with a cane, then with a walker, then only with the help of a wheelchair, and finally, not at all. His bones become so brittle that he could not lift a fork, or a pen. It took his full concentration to lift his hand to wipe his eyes.
People came; the house was seldom without guests. People whose lives had been touched by his willingness to help anyone in need, were now there to offer what help they could. The Lord had finally given him one thing he could not handle without help.
I who, being a girl, had been less help than he could have wished with the heavy farm work, became the help he turned to. I fed him, bathed him, shaved him, and sat with him when he didn’t need anything but company. And that something behind his eyes did not get smaller. It got brighter.
It took me nearly 28 years to learn the lesson that he illustrated for me in those last months. We are not here to prove how much we can handle. We’re here to laugh. And love. And learn. And sometimes break down and cry. Together.
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Photo: Author’s own
“We are not here to prove how much we can handle. We’re here to laugh. And love. And learn. And sometimes break down and cry. ” – So nicely said.
Thank you Alta.