As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

Ephesians 4:1-7

Here is a photograph that does a fair job of summarizing the current “state of play” with my parents, next door.

You really have to read Love Empowers Us to Bear One Another’s Burdens to set the context, but the road we are on as a family is still very much defined by my dad’s struggle to remain mobile, my mum’s struggle to help him without hurting herself, and my struggle to keep it all in balance.

Looking back at the February post, I can see that neither of them are quite so strong today. Until last week I thought we had bounced back impressively from dad’s weekend at the hospital (Not the Day I Had Planned – March 25-28), but things have definitely slipped in the wrong direction since then.

Hence the picture, above. I try to get dad out for a walk as often as possible, but it took a good ten minutes to get up the driveway, then another ten to get to the shady part of the cul-de-sac. So I had him sit down for ten minutes then we headed back to the house. All told, almost three-quarters of an hour to leave the house, walk a few steps into the street, then return.

Max (Golden Retriever) is amazingly good. He walks with my mum while I help dad. It’s obvious he desperately wants to chase rabbits and squirrels, or run to the neighbor’s house when he hears a door open; but there he sits, patiently waiting.

But we try. This is the point of such an excursion up the driveway. Dad wants to be at home, mum wants him to be home, and we all know being home requires some ability to ambulate. So we keep at it, we make things work, and we take things just one day at a time.

And we are grateful. Grateful for all the care, and the support, and the encouragement, and the love.

And, “to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.“

Peace, hope, grace, and promise – DEREK