RESPECTING LIFE ENRICHES LIFE.

Bible Reading of the Day: Read Matthew 10:29-31.

Verse of the Day: “Don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows” (Matthew 10:31).

“I love you, a bushel and a peck,” Sara sang softly as she brushed her grandmother’s hair, “a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.”

Sara stood behind Grandma’s chair, gently drawing the brush through the gray tangles. “Do you remember singing that song to me, Grandma?” Sara asked. Grandma didn’t answer. Grandma hadn’t spoken to Sara in months. Sara didn’t even know if her grandmother recognized her anymore.

“You used to sing that song to me all the time,” Sara told Grandma. “And now I get to sing it to you.”

“I love to brush your hair, Grandma,” Sara said. “I remember you telling me when I was just a little girl, that God knew just how many hairs were on my head, and then you would pretend to count them. Do you remember that?”

Grandma sat stolidly, staring at the wall of her bedroom.

“One, two, three,” Sara counted, her eyes filling with tears as she pretended to count the hairs on Grandma’s head. “Four, five, six …”

Sara opened her eyes and suddenly realized that she had been dreaming. She sat in Grandma’s bedroom, in the chair where Grandma had sat so many times while Sara had brushed her hair and sung to her and talked to her.

Grandma had come to live with Sara’s family when she had no longer been able to take care of herself. Sara, her brother, and her parents knew that having Grandma live with them would turn their lives upside down. Everyone in the family took turns taking care of Grandma, staying home with her, paying attention to her.

Grandma had died three weeks earlier, and Sara missed her and still dreamed of her. But Sara’s dreams were happy dreams, dreams that left her feeling warm and grateful and happy inside. The last couple of years of Grandma’s life had been hard for her family, but they had been worth it for Sara, and she hoped she would remember those years for the rest of her life. Her eyes filled with tears.

“I love you, a bushel and a peck,” she sang, “a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.”

TO DISCUSS: Remembering that other people’s lives are unspeakably precious helps you remember that your own life is precious. What can you do today as a family to show how much you value human life?

TO PRAY: “Lord, we know that you love us more than a bushel and a peck. Help us to value our lives and those of others.”

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