These days Teckla is unable to do much. Reading has become impossible because she can\u2019t keep her place on the page\u2014and increasingly she simply doesn\u2019t remember what the words represent. Conversations have disappeared, even though I still chatter away. Most of what we say is by touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Teckla is restless, endlessly puttering around putting things away. All her puttering flows from a heart shaped to love and serve. She will approach me while I am reading; and hand me a book\u2014often a child\u2019s book. Her eyes will be bright and full of love. I don\u2019t always have the heart to tell her I don\u2019t need that book. Sometimes, I just thank her and set book beside me. Sometimes I read a few pages aloud, even though that is not what she wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a meal, she must be persuaded to eat everything on her plate. She will say, \u201cThe kids may be hungry. Maybe you need more.\u201d At the end of a meal, she is quick to take my plate and put it in the sink (or a bookcase).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes she is moving and displaying the books for aesthetic purposes. Books will appear propped up in chairs so the covers can be seen\u2014sometimes with a stuffed bear or orangutan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, I spend part of each day following Teckla as she putters. I take books out of the refrigerator and breadbox. I remove the coasters from inside the Bible and hymnal and put them back on the coffee table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I finally find the salt and pepper in bathroom or the book I had been reading in the sock drawer, she will hear my heavy sigh and ask, \u201cAre you okay?\u201d She doesn\u2019t remember my name, but her concern is as deep as the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I found, in prayer, God is not sympathetic to my plight. First, he quietly pointed out that love is the riverbed in which her life flows even now. My riverbed is still being carved out, it seems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also complained to God that I tire of undoing what she has just done, thinking she is helping. Immediately, I knew this complaint had stepped in it. So, for my kids and all those who I have tried to help over the years, forgive me. And thank God that He has followed me like I follow Teckla. I hope all my puttering has been half as holy as Teckla\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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These days Teckla is unable to do much. Reading has become impossible because she can\u2019t keep her place on the page\u2014and increasingly she simply doesn\u2019t remember what the words represent. Conversations have disappeared, even though I still chatter away. Most … Continue reading