Led on Level Ground

I began moving my folks things into their new digs in the Assisted Living Home. Considering the list of all they would need, I thought the most important thing to bring first were their house plants. I asked Mom, who agreed that plants promoted well-being. Mom has oodles of plants. I gathered them all, along with various stands, and then a table and chairs. That filled my van. We headed to the Home.

When we arrived, no one came scrambling to help unload. I guess the maintenance folks who will help unload new residents' belongings are only there on weekdays. After setting my folks in their room, which did have basic furniture already, I went on a reconnaissance mission for a dolly or cart. Meanwhile, two residents popped in to visit with Mom and Dad. They were all happily chattering away as I scoured the home for a cart. After finding a very helpful nurse, the cart was secured, and I loaded my little forest of hope and greenery. As I heaved it through the hallways, every resident I passed commented on how lovely my little forest was, and how they couldn't wait to meet my parents. I felt a little like how God must have felt, sending plants to cover the earth.

Once the plants were placed after multiple (endless) rearrangements, the suite did indeed feel more like home. The plants were immediately releasing their sweet oxygen into the air. With their gentle fronds and leaves swaying, they whispered, "It will be okay." The visitors had meandered away for their naps. A second cart-load later, all was in place, and we were done for our first day of home-ifying the suite.

Today we will be back at it. Favorite lovely accessories have already been carefully wrapped and boxed. The whole process is overwhelming to my parents, as anyone who has ever moved a home knows. They had to move. Their house is tri-level with two sets of stairs. It is no longer safe for them, nor easy in their golden years of declining strength. They had to have a place that was stairless and level. As I was considering how difficult all this is for them, I read Psalm 143. It was so perfect, as though God were sending His validation. In Psalm 143, David is despairing, in overwhelming circumstances. The world is like a mountain he cannot climb. He was facing a relentless enemy. Here is what he says:

Lord, hear my prayer,
    listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
    come to my relief.
² Do not bring your servant into judgment,
    for no one living is righteous before you.
³ The enemy pursues me,
    he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in the darkness
    like those long dead.
⁴ So my spirit grows faint within me;
    my heart within me is dismayed.
⁵ I remember the days of long ago;
    I meditate on all your works
    and consider what your hands have done.
⁶ I spread out my hands to you;
    I thirst for you like a parched land.

⁷ Answer me quickly, Lord;
    my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
    or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
⁸ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
    for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
    for to you I entrust my life.
⁹ Rescue me from my enemies, Lord,
    for I hide myself in you.
¹⁰ Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
    lead me on level ground.

How comforting! God takes the weary, who remember the past but are now of failing spirit, overwhelmed with oppression and dismay, and He leads them on level ground.  Their path will  be smoothed, their way lighted, and their journey secure. I pray that my parents will conclude, as David did at the end of the Psalm:

For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life;
    in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble...

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Isaiah 40:31 

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.