Who can separate them?

As part of my training at work I have been going out with various care managers on their home visits.  It’s a great learning experience:  I’m getting to see what’s involved in being a care manager, learn different people’s styles of interacting with clients, and meet some really wonderful people.  But SO much more than that, I’m getting to learn basic, very human life lessons that ground me and teach me about what a contented and joyful life looks like.

A couple weeks ago I went out with my trainer to do a home visit and had the privilege of meeting one of the most tender, loving couples I have ever seen. 

Birdie and Oliver live together in their small suburban home of 45 years.  At 85, they both feel weak and stiff and have begun to stoop.  Their beloved children have grown and scattered throughout the country after being raised in a household full of laughter and love.  Though they’re not able to get out of the house very often, they love getting dressed up to go out together to do errands: she puts on her hat and her stockings and he puts on his good button down shirt and grabs his cane.  But after a life-time together, Birdie’s memory is fading.  At first she forgot little things: where she put her hat, that thing she was going to tell Oliver, what that thingamajig is called. 

Now she gets lost on her way to the bus station down the street she has walked to for the past 45 years.  She forgets the names and faces of her children and often does not recognize them.  Through it all, Oliver has been her faithful friend and companion.  He loves her unconditionally – even when she forgets who he is.

During the visit, Oliver sat beside his wife on the couch holding her hand and answering all my questions for her because she is not able to remember the answers, or even communicate them if she did.

At one point, I asked Oliver if Birdie knew who he was.  Birdie perked up as if she really wanted to answer this question for herself.  She looked at her husband and squeezed his hand, but her mouth stood agape and no words came out because her brain just did not know the answer.  She just stared at him.

Oliver looked into his wife’s eyes with such love and sorrow and said, “That’s OK Birdie.  I know.  I’m you’re husband Oliver.  We’ve been married for 45 years.  We’re best buds, and we love each other.”

Birdie nodded in agreement, satisfied with his answer.  She still knew it was true, even if she couldn’t remember it by herself.

She then turned to me and tried to speak.  She repeated herself a lot and her vocabulary was jumbled as she misplaced and misused words while her brain tried to recall them.  But she spoke with conviction, because she was sure about what she was saying.

She said, “I know that God is with me, and He lives in me.  You don’t need to mess around with funny stuff.  Go to church.  And I know that God is with me.”

I was so awestruck by what she said.  This woman had forgotten everyone she loved, including her loving husband of 45 years, but she remembered Jesus, her lover for eternity.  What an incredible testimony of how deeply her heart clung to her Lord. 

I know the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and I know that he has the power to do so.  But the Lord tells us not be afraid of those who want to kill the body, because they cannot touch the soul.  Try as he might, the enemy cannot take her out of the Lord’s hand, despite her vulnerability. 

I know Birdie’s loving husband will be with her until the very end, continuing to live the testimony of Christ’s love for her, but when it is time for them to be separated, the Lord will raise her up and restore her completely, and they will be together forever.

I am so comforted to know that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.  What a miracle that he overcomes such obstacles to make Himself known to us.

Thank you Father.