Unfinished Business

This week, one situation brings to mind 2 thoughts.  Ever since reading the book "1000 Gifts" by Anna Voskamp, I've tried to cultivate an attitude of gratitude for the many blessings I have that get overlooked.  The research says doing so makes people happier.  As devastating as the diagnosis of dementia is, there are blessings if you look for them.

I worked for 4 years in the hospice field.  Not my calling, but as with everything God has placed in my life, a valuable learning experience.  I learned that knowing your time on earth is short allows you to take care of unfinished business sometimes.  A gift those who die without warning don't have.  So one of the things I hear my mom express regret about is the break in the relationship between her and her only sibling, her brother.  Now the reason for the break is obvious.  He was a jerk and trying to grab more than his share of the fruits of my grandparents lives.  Yet I can only imagine what it must feel like to be estranged from the one other person in the world that is your blood family.  So here I identify gift #1- my brothers and I have good relationships.

Pretty much out of the blue, my middle brother gets the opportunity to make contact with our uncle in a way where my brother can try to negotiate reconciliation if possible, without subjecting our mother to more emotional heartbreak.  Gift #2 & #3- God works in mysterious ways, but His ways are perfect.  This brother has the right skills to be the person to handle this contact and the opportunity was presented to him.  So he will pursue contact and see if reconciliation is an option.  That, of course, would be gift #4, but we will have to wait to see what happens.  Gift #5, having the opportunity while she is still able to resolve what might be unfinished business.  It occurs to me as I write this that we would all be wise to take note.  Not everyone has the opportunity to know their time might be short.  We would all be wise to look for areas of unfinished business in our own lives and work to resolve them if possible.  Secondly, I better take note and work to do all I can to make sure I keep a good relationship with my own brothers.  Thank you God for sharing your wisdom with my and for sharing it in little bits that my finite mind can comprehend at one time.