Kind

Psalm 145:8

On Sunday morning, I woke up with a title for the blog, 'Good Grief!'

Having spent most of the weekend struggling with the speed at which life had changed, I, along with my siblings, was not in a good place. Last week I mentioned the challenging decision that families face in caring for their loved ones. By Friday, we had no option but to take Dad somewhere he would be safe. After leaving Dad with very lovely (but still very unknown) carers, we returned to the house we grew up in, and it was empty!

Even typing that brings a lump to my throat.

There have been many phone calls back and forth to check how Dad is settling in, but one was particularly heart-warming.

On Monday, I called for an update, and the carer said:

"I recognise your Dad from the Sally Army years ago."

Now, I'm notoriously bad at remembering names and people from the past, so I decided to message those in the know as soon as the call was over. The irony is that Mum would have known straight away and repeatedly said, "you do know," before realising I wasn't born at the time! (Miss you, Mum!)

So, I messaged a few people at Sheffield Citadel, the Salvation Army we moved to when I was six, and nobody remembered the name. On the next call, I asked the lady which Salvation Army she remembered Dad from.

"It was Langsett Road. I was only a young girl when I knew him."

That was nearly fifty years ago!

The reason the timescale is relevant is that she said these words about Dad:

"I remember that he was a kind man."

Now, I'm not one for wearing rose-tinted spectacles. If she'd spilled Vimto on the carpet or forgotten to do her Tenor Horn practice, she might have a different recollection of Dad. Despite this, it was lovely that after all these years, her overarching memory of Dad was that he was kind.

It's something to aim for, isn't it?

It must be nice to have people smile when they see your face after over forty years and remember that you were kind to them. Like me, Dad has his grumpy moments, but I believe the source of Dad's kindness is the love he's experienced from his Heavenly Father.

It's a love reflected throughout the psalms.

"You're kind-hearted to those who don't deserve it and very patient with people who fail you. Your love is like a flooding river overflowing its banks with kindness."

Psalm 145:8 (TPT)

Although there is still some 'good grief' to work through, my overriding focus this week is on the kindness of those caring for Dad and supporting us as a family. I only hope that when I'm Dad's age, people will choose the word kind to describe me and look to the source of that kindness. My aim is to turn the slow and steady stream of kindness in my life into a “flooding river overflowing its banks.”

Kay Moorby