Mom's God Wink

My mom is the full time caregiver for my dad who suffers from severe dementia.  Mom keeps the atmosphere around the house happy—singing, taking dad for a swim each morning, praying, sharing meals, and going to church at least once a week.  Dad moves at a snail’s pace, sometimes doesn’t recognize my mom, and rarely speaks.  My active mother does her best at keeping a positive attitude, but she’s not perfect.  Sometimes she gets cross with dad and scolds him when he won’t get in the shower, wanders around the house at night, or walks out the front door in the middle of the night.  I rarely hear her complain; but at times, she does, and no one would fault her for it.

Recently, following several weeks of Dad not sleeping through the night, mom got into her bed and hoped this would be a night free of interruptions.  As usual, she left the nightlight on in the attached bathroom and the light on in the hallway with the bedroom door open.  In case dad got up, she didn’t want him to fall. 

She noticed something unusual as she pulled the sheets back—the top sheet was white.  Normally, her sheets were navy blue and sure enough, the fitted sheet and pillowcase were navy blue.  She wasn’t sure how a white top sheet got on her bed.  Had the maid done it?  But, she didn’t own any white sheets and she had specifically told her maid not to change the sheets on her bed. 

Mom, tired and baffled, lifted the sheet up to the light to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her.  Sure enough, she could see the light through the bright white sheet.  As she closed her eyes to go to sleep, she prayed that she wasn’t going blind!

In the morning, she woke up and realized the top sheet was navy blue.  Knowing her experience was real, she wondered if somehow it was a message from God.  She prayed, “God, what does this mean?”

Immediately, the Holy Spirit spoke to her.  “Bonnie, this is how I see you.   You are covered in righteousness and purity. I don’t see the times you are cross with John.  I don’t see the times you get short with him or wish things were different. I see a beautiful, righteous woman who is filled with pure love.  You are doing my work and it’s beautiful to me.”

As my mom shared this story with me, we both cried.  I had to withhold myself, because I was at work when she told me. 

She finished her story by reminding me of the verse in Is. 1:18, "Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”

This is how God sees my mother.  If you know Jesus, this is how He sees you too.