Nearing Home by Billy Graham (best book club books for discussion txt) 📗

for the peace and hope they need. If you had lost a loved one recently, wouldn’t you be glad to learn that others were praying for you?

NEARING HOME WITH GOD’S COMFORT

Death is always an intruder even when it is expected. It disrupts our lives and brings grief in its wake. No one welcomes death’s legacy of pain and emptiness and loneliness—but God has not abandoned us, and even in the midst of life’s greatest sorrows His Word is still true: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). This is a wonderful promise, filled with assurance, in the face of sorrow and death. Through God’s Word we are able to draw from His presence that lives within us through His Holy Spirit. The Lord also sends comfort through others, and we need to ask Him to reveal those around us who are praying for God’s comfort because He often sends it through His servants.

It always warms my heart to read Paul’s salutations and greetings in his epistles to those who have served him and with him in ministry. A particular reference is especially insightful: “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too” (Romans 16:13). Rufus happened to be the son of Simon the Cyrene, who was called out from the crowd to carry the cross for Jesus.

Scripture does not mention Paul’s parents, but in this passage our hearts are touched by the apostle’s loving acknowledgement of this dear mother. She is the wife of Simon, and while we are not given details, it is apparent that this elderly mother cared for Paul during his ministry.

Can you imagine the conversations that Paul and Rufus must have had with Simon’s wife as she recounted the day her husband was called upon to help carry the cross of Jesus up Calvary’s road to His destination of death? Paul surely recounted his trip on the road to Damascus. His destination that day was to capture Christians and return them to Jerusalem where they also would face death. Can you fathom the joy this mother felt to know that her son, Rufus, was serving with the man whom the Lord miraculously saved and called to bring the saving Gospel to the world? She obviously grew to love Paul as one of her own and made a significant impression on Paul as Scripture records. What a blessing this elderly mother would have missed had she not opened her home and heart to the beloved apostle Paul.

While many older folks are not able to care for themselves, many are still capable and can care for others in various ways. We often find that our own loads are not as heavy when we begin helping others. Our choices determine our destiny. When we make choices with the Lord Jesus at the center, life’s journey can be purposeful and filled with hope that one day we will be reunited with all those who have impacted our lives.

7

INFLUENCING THE IMPRESSIONABLE

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother . . . and in your mother . . . and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

—2 TIMOTHY 1:5

Wise counsel to the younger is the duty of the aged.

—UNKNOWN

A new generation of caregivers takes control of kids,” read a Washington Post headline in 2010. The article, based on a 2007 Pew Research Center study, reported that one in ten children in the United States now lives with a grandparent. In today’s world with all the controversy over Medicare, senior citizens, social security, and struggling to find caregivers for the aged, this is a breathtaking reversal in roles. Multiple reasons are cited for this remarkable statistic: parents losing their jobs and having to leave home to find work, parents on active military duty, parents incarcerated, orphaned children, court injunctions against drug-addicted parents, single parents battling life-threatening diseases, teen pregnancy, and the list goes on. A subhead in the article shouted, “Grandparents to the rescue!”

The stories are startling: One grandmother reported finding her two-month-old grandson on her doorstep when she responded to a knock at the door at 3:00 a.m. He had been left there by her drug-addicted daughter. A grandfather was asked if he resented his retirement being interrupted by having to raise his young grandchildren due to their parents’ deaths in an automobile accident. He said, “It is my duty. I certainly don’t want strangers raising my son’s children. Besides, what are grandparents for?” Some grandparents resent the intrusion; others see it as a blessing and are grateful for the opportunity to provide stability in the midst of emotional trauma difficult for any youth to cope with. For some grandparents, there is a tremendous financial hardship that accompanies their new role. Many live on meager incomes and cannot return to work for a myriad of reasons.1

One hundred years ago, similar conditions would not have presented the same challenges. Multigenerational homes were common, particularly in farm communities that were the backbone of our nation. Society did not look down on homesteads where the grandparents lived with a married child and spouse and their several children. They all sat around the dinner table daily having collectively worked the farm, maintained household chores, and prepared the meals. Everyone pitched in. Then they would all retreat to the front porch in the cool of the evening or gather around the fireplace to keep warm in the winter. They would laugh, share stories, and plan to do it all again the next day. Children saw their parents respecting their grandparents, an example that taught honor toward the elderly. The grandparents were grateful both for the hustle and bustle of youth and for the opportunity to support and guide their adult children in parenting. Many from the older generation often said that it increased their vitality and zest for life. While not every family situation was that picturesque, multigenerational homes weren’t a bad concept.