May 27
Scripture: Job 2:11
Source author: Jeanette Gardner Littleton
May 27
The Presence of Love When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. —Job 2:11
It’s okay, Grandpa.” Little Elizabeth wasn’t talking much since she wasn’t three yet, but she had that phrase down pat. And she already knew one of her chief jobs in life was to help and love my dad, who’d had a stroke several years earlier and was losing his capabilities to move. Of course Dad was dealing with the depression that can come as your body stops working right. But each time Grandpa sat in his chair crying, little Elizabeth pulled her yellow plastic chair up against Grandpa’s burgundy recliner, right between his legs, facing him. She’d babble gentle words to him so quietly, the rest of us in the room couldn’t hear her. But we could tell by the tone in her sweet high voice, the nods of her curly blond head, and gentle pats that she was encouraging Grandpa. After a couple of minutes, she’d go get a Kleenex, hand it to him, and go back to her post. Though his mind may be confused and his body was rebelling, his spirits were revived by a loving, sympathetic heart.
Sometimes love just keeps a grieving person company. — Jeanette Gardner Littleton —