One summer when I worked in ICU, a prolonged heat wave swept the Mid-South, keeping actual temperatures above 100° for fifteen days straight.
During that time, the air conditioner went out in eighty-year-old Matilda’s modest home. From what I was later told, she hated to bother her family, so she didn’t tell anyone. After all, air conditioning didn’t exist for much of her lifetime. People made it just fine back then, didn’t they? So would she.
She was unconscious when the ambulance brought her to our hospital. Her body temp was 107°, her skin hot and dry—symptoms of a heat stroke. We quickly lowered her temperature with a cooling blanket, but it was too late. She remained unresponsive. As one doctor put it, the heat “fried her brain.”
Every year, the National Weather Service advises listeners to check on neighbors and relatives during extreme weather. If only someone had checked on Matilda.
As caregivers, we have our hands full. It’s almost all we can handle to make it through the day sometimes. No one can expect us to do more. But when we extend our caregiving reach to include neighbors, particularly the most vulnerable, we fulfill Jesus’ command to love our neighbors as ourselves. It only takes a moment but can make all the difference to someone who may be reluctant to ask for help.
No matter how busy you are, you’ll never regret extending your reach.
In humility value others above yourselves,
not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
—Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)
Tracy Crump dispenses hope in her award-winning book, Health, Healing, and Wholeness: Devotions of Hope in the Midst of Illness (CrossLink Publishing, 2021). A former intensive care nurse, she cared for her parents and her mother-in-law and understands both the burdens and joys of caregiving. Her devotions have been featured in Guideposts books, The Upper Room, and many other publications, and she has contributed 22 stories to Chicken Soup for the Soul® books. She also conducts writing workshops, freelance edits, and proofreads for Farmers’ Almanac. But her most important job is Grandma to five completely unspoiled grandchildren.
Oh, sweet Matilda! I can see this being my mother, as she never wants to be a bother. Thank you for this powerful reminder.
We had something similar happen with my MIL, but praise God, it turned out ok.
Caring words to remind us that others need our help. Be looking beyond our own homes.
Thanks, Janis. Sometimes we just don’t realize those around us may be struggling, but I know how much compassion you have for others.
A powerful reminder, Tracy. Thank you for the nudge.
Thanks for reading, Diana!
Great advice!
Thanks, Joyce!