Even to Gray Hair

Guest Post by Author Lauri Lemke Thompson

“…There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.” Deuteronomy 1:31

For six years, my mother’s dementia had caused increasing confusion, but she always seemed to know me, her only daughter. It was not until my last visit before her passing, when she was 93, that even that recognition failed.

I sensed two things that evening: that her time on earth may be vanishing, and that she may experience some rough waters before she entered Heaven. I felt an urgent need to convey that her God would hold her safely in His arms through this final leg.

“Remember, Mom,” I said, “when you fed each of us when we were babies? I’m sure you took such good care of us, held us close, and any thought of neglecting us would have been ludicrous. That’s what God is doing for you now.”  

The Scriptures He nudged me to share that night included the one shown above, which concerns what God did for Israel during all those years in the desert.

Trying to jar her maternal instincts and precious memories of holding babies, I read to her Isaiah 49:15 where God tells His people: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” I insisted to her that in the same way, God will not forget you, His cherished daughter.

I told her that she could insert her name (Ruth) in these promises. “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you, Ruth….”  Isaiah 66:13. I yearned for her to feel God’s love through her remaining days, especially because I doubted I would be physically present since I lived a thousand miles away.

Lastly, I shared Isaiah 46:4: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you, Ruth, and I will carry you….”. I pushed back her white hair from her face and recalled God’s grace in her life.

A miraculous moment of lucidity in her eyes that evening would have been exciting. While I saw no outward evidence of that, I could hope something “got through,” and I prayed for her. When she did go to her heavenly Home just weeks later, I was so grateful she had chosen to trust Jesus for salvation long before the brain fog of dementia hit.

The Bible verses I shared with her that night, I now speak to myself—and offer to you. Facing challenges at any age, Scripture assures us of God’s presence and tender solace.

“Life’s a voyage that’s homeward bound.” – Herman Melville

(All Scripture NIV). 

A Wisconsin native, Lauri Lemke Thompson appreciates living in the lovely Ozark mountains in Branson, Missouri. She is active in Christian Women’s Connection (Stonecroft) and the Ozarks Chapter of the American Christian Writers. Her two books, Hitting Pause and Pressing Forward, are collections of her columns, articles and devotions. Her bimonthly column appears in the Branson Globe newspaper..