Belview Nursing Home, Josephine, Evelyn, Bill, Jean, me, Billy, Roy, Rhoda.
6-29-06. Those are the names mom wrote
at the bottom of page 225. (p225 note) I have tried to imagine the
connection. Some of the names I
know. Belview Nursing Home is where mom
and Don served the elderly for many years. There are many forgotten people in those
places. Sometimes people are moved to a
nursing home for good reasons and other times for not so good reasons, like the
family did not want to be burdened. That
is where mom and Don stepped in.
Galatians 6:2 says “Bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law
of Christ.” When you do that it requires a sacrifice – you are going to get
your hands dirty and maybe your heart hurt.
Mom and Don were never shy about stepping into difficult relationships –
the selflessness was fueled by their faith.
Josephine was one of mom’s sisters.
The black sheep of the family. I
suspect that she was bi-polar. But mom
was her anchor. Evelyn was a friend that
I didn’t know much about. Bill and
Jean. Bill was my biological father and
Jean, his second wife. There was always
tension with them. I think that is the
rule and not the exception. Mom once
told me that Bill continued to pursue her even after she remarried. Remember, she divorced him. Divorces fracture lives and
relationships. I hear about amicable
separations, like that somehow excuses the damage done. Matters of the heart are so complex – so
difficult – so painful. God hates
divorce and I have a few emotional scars that remind me of why exactly that is.
Mom wrote her won name, “me”. This
list was not only a list of those she had served. So why did she write the names? And why in
2006? That was fully three years after I
gave her the book. Apparently, she had laid the book down and then picked it
back up again. Looking at the scripture reference, 1 Corinthians 3:5-6, the
verse was about our role in the lives of others – serving – planting the seed
of the Gospel – watering that seed. Perhaps this was a list of those she had
served, prayed for, shared the Gospel with – or in her case – had the eternal
seed planted in her heart. God knows.
Then there was my name. She used
Billy. My childhood nickname. Most of you reading this did not know that. I
am a third. Charles Earl Elgin III. My grandfather is pictured on the left with
the four Elgin kids. And yes, that is me in the Oshkosh bibs with Grandpa Elgin
trying to hold me still. My grandfather
went by Earl. My dad by Bill. When I was born they called me little Bill or
Billy. I was known as Bill until my
Junior year in high school when I changed it to Charley or Chas (a name my
sisters in the picture gave me). I tell people I was tired of explaining why,
if my name was Charles, they called me Bill.
Actually, thinking about it, I think that I was distancing myself from
my association with my dad – and more directly with the pain in my heart.
I don’t know who Roy and Rhoda were,
but obviously they were people who were significant to her for one reason or
another.
“The last thing many believers need today is to go to another bible
study. They already know far more that
they are putting into practice.” “I am looking for a place to serve and be a
blessing.” “Whose needs can I meet?” (p231 note) When mom underlined
those sentences she was about 80 years old.
There is no age limit on serving.
The picture on the left was taken in the fall of 2005 behind Christus Victor
Lutheran Church in Ocean Springs, MS. Pictured
are Barb Plattner, Mom, Martie, me, and Sherry Buresh. Mom was 80 years old. Martie and I were helping with Disaster
Relief after Hurricane Katrina. Mom
wanted to come and help so Barb drove her down.
They both worked in the food distribution center. Behind us and to the right was our home away
from home. Barb and mom slept on cots in
a common room with many other volunteers.
Imagine if a business decided to lay off all of its experienced employees
and left it to the new people who were just learning the ropes. That is what many churches do today. They shuffle the “old people”, the “seniors”
off to a room by themselves. They put
them on a bus headed for Branson, MO. It
is as if they have no spiritual value. And to make matters worse, most of the
“seniors” buy into it and retire from service.
(That is why Martie and I refuse to go to a seniors’ class on Sunday
morning.) Mom was, even then, wanting to serve – to meet someone’s needs – to
share her wisdom. A word of advice to you – don’t get on that bus! Serve until the Lord calls you home.
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