More to this story

Walking down the hallway of my Mom’s home is something I love and hate to do. I love it because my Mom is at the end of it. I hate it for all it represents. My sister and I like to call it “the hallway of tears”, for each step we take brings us closer to my Mom’s reality. It brings us closer to these last days, to our last goodnight.

When my Mom was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I remember looking around the doctor’s office, surveying all his credentials. I was so angry with him – not him as an individual—but that his profession should even exist in the first place. That people should even get Alzheimer’s. Even from the beginning of Mom’s disease, there was this “wrongness” about the whole thing.

When I see women nearing their later years, displaying their beautiful crown of white hair, I am reminded that my Mom will never get there. When I admire the sharp minds of older generations, I’m reminded that my Mom’s mind has disappeared and vanished. When I see my Mom lying there, when I touch her frail hands, when I see the slight light left in her eyes, all of my heart shouts, “This is not the way it’s supposed to be!”

A couple nights ago, as I walked down the hallway, I couldn’t help but think that my Mom should never have had to go to bed each night in this place. She should be at home, where she belongs. And, as I entered her room and saw the picture of her mother who also died of Alzheimer’s Disease this past year, I became angry at the disease. I wanted to scream at the injustice.

This sense of injustice reminded me that we are created for so much more than this world.

I’m thankful that in Scripture, death is the last enemy. And, it is only temporary. All that is bad will one day be made right.

There’s a day to come when death will be no more -- when all our pain and suffering will cease. There will be a new reality; a perfect relationship between God and His creation will exist.

Right now, we see the pain. We see Mom’s physical frame decline. We lose more of her each day. But, there is more to her story than this ending.

In the new creation, all things will be made right. The entire progression of the Bible builds to this reality. God is going to redeem and restore everything to what it was meant to be. Right now, we feel the weight and pain and heaviness of this world, but it’s going to change.

There will be a day when we won’t struggle with losing loved ones. When there aren’t people diagnosing Alzheimer’s. When all will be made right.

As a Christian, I believe this reality. My hope is beyond what we see now.

Jesus took on flesh, suffered terribly, and was cut off from God so we might not have to experience that eternally. My great Savior, I thank you for such hope! Such redemption. That I can trust You took my place, the place I deserved on the cross for my sin, and you have secured my salvation. That this is my standing, my hope, my identity, and my security. This what carries me through these final days.

A good friend of our's has a great sermon on this new reality. Feel free to check it out.

Psalm 103:

Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
6 The Lord gives righteousness
and justice to all who are treated unfairly.
7 He revealed his character to Moses
and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are;
he remembers we are only dust.
15 Our days on earth are like grass;
like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone—
as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever
with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children
18 of those who are faithful to his covenant,
of those who obey his commandments!
19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne;
from there he rules over everything.
20 Praise the Lord, you angels,
you mighty ones who carry out his plans,
listening for each of his commands.
21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels
who serve him and do his will!
22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created,
everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.