Are you a new one?
Ms. Willie is always our last visit. She lives on the top floor of the public-housing apartments that Kay and I deliver supper to on Wednesday afternoons.
With all the others, we knock on their door, give them a box meal, ask how they’re doing, and move on.
But Ms. Willie is different.
She steps out of her apartment in her nightgown to chat for several minutes. She rarely wants the food because she says her stomach has been upset. (Because she also has no teeth, we show her what’s easy to chew; sometimes she takes it, sometimes she doesn’t.)
Yet she never knows who we are.
Every time.
Every week she asks us, “Aren’t y’all new ones?”
We used to say, “No, Ms. Willie. We’re not new. We were here last week, too. Remember?”
But now I’ve started just saying, “Yes, we’re new. I’m Lisa and this is Kay. It’s nice to meet you!”
She then proceeds to tell us how she got her name (from her sweet little ol’ daddy), she asks us to pray for her sister, and eventually says, “I thank you for coming, but I know you’re busy so I won’t keep you.”
But even though I’m sad her memory is fading further and further away, I’m glad she reminds us that we are new every day.
Today is a new one. And we are new in it. We’re not exactly who we were yesterday. We’re not exactly who we’ll be tomorrow.
We’re refilled with a new measure of grace every morning. Every morning we wake up with a fresh supply.
May you remember, too, that you are new today. Everyday. Like new buds opening every day now (I’m so glad it’s spring!), may you also open up to new possibilities every day, new views, new graces.
Embrace the renewed you. You’ve never been the person you are right now.
Today is a new day and you’re a new you in it!
* * *
Where do you hope to see new mercies this week? Let’s talk in the comments.
revised from the archives
Love this sweet reminder of God’s new mercies
Thanks, Wanda. We can never be reminded too often of how good God is, right? Blessings to you.
I love how you have been led to respond with grace, to meet her where she is.
Lisa, this is just beautiful! What a precious & powerful lesson to learn from the ravaging disease of Alzheimer’s. Thank you!
Thank you, Joanne. Alzheimer’s is such a horrible, horrible disease, isn’t it? I hated it when my mother had it, but I did learn a lot through the experience. So many lessons we can learn are always all around us.
Beautiful Truth spoken here, Lisa. Thank God we don’t have to let the past dictate our present. May this be a blessed NEW day for you. Happy Easter!
Yes, that is such a beautiful truth about being a believer in Jesus–He is always making things new. In us. Around us. Thanks for stopping by, Susan. Happy Easter to you too!
Yes! This IS a new day, thanks to God. And thanks to Him we can also be new. What a blessing! Thanks for the reminder, Lisa. Let’s be glad and praise the Lord!
Praising the Lord with you, Mari-Anna. God is beyond gracious to give us fresh starts every day!
Each day has enough worries for it’s own! And, thanks be to God, an abundance of blessings, too! Great Monday morning post, Lisa! Have a blessed week!
Yes, Matt 6:33-34 is one of my favorites, June. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Thanks for adding this in.
Love looking at things in a “new” way!!! Instead of taking so much at face value, maybe I need to be asking God what He’s trying to say more. Blessings!
I like looking at things in new ways too, Lisa. And usually it takes somebody or something different to shake me up into doing that. I’m thankful for Ms. Willie being one of those forces in my life.
This made me smile – that His mercies are new each day – I am new today. My grandmother had dementia – it sounds, though, your friend who meets you anew each week has a sweet, joyful spirit that is always there! You are involved in a wonderful ministry!
Shalom, Lisa!
Yes, Ms. Willie does have the sweetest spirit ever. She’s always smiling and so welcoming. It’s easy to love her.
Neat thought that every day we are different from what we have been and will be. Love that God’s mercies are new every morning.
We’ve learned to go along with or start on another subject rather than correct or remind my m-i-l, too.
I’m sure you and your m-i-l have many of the same conversations over and over. I remember doing that with my mom. It’s sad. But it really is easier once we learn not to be combative about correcting everything. ha.
Lisa, the Holy Spirit spoke pretty much these exact words to me this morning….I had a sleepless night, carrying a heavy weight and woke up refreshed by some miracle. I stepped out on the deck with my coffee and saw and heard a robin on the tall tree over our house singing his heart out.
It’s like I heard God say, “This is a new day. Leave your sorrows where they were and don’t take them into this day. I am here now.”
My heart was so lifted up.
Your stories always make me smile–what a giving heart you have!
What a wonderful gift from the Lord, Jody! Thanks for sharing that. My sister is often reminded of sweet kisses from God when she sees red birds. I’m not always good at leaving yesterday behind, but I know it is beneficial when I can do it.
I love how you took this precious story and weaved such a beautiful lesson into it!
Thanks for sharing this reminder that we all need to hear, Lisa.
Blessings.
Thank you, Heather. Ms. Willie has been asking me for a long time if I’m new, but it was only last week that I finally realized that I’m not just making her feel better by saying yes, but that I AM really new. 🙂
Oh, Lisa…it has been a couple of weeks since I’ve had a chance to stop by your place. What timing that THIS post was published today!! I needed this. Specifically today…I think you wrote it just for me. Thank you for this beautiful reminder.
I’m glad this was what you needed today, Mary. I’ve been keeping up with the parts of your story when you blog. What a horrible ordeal you went through with having headaches for so long! 🙁 I’m sorry, friend. So glad the worst is behind you, and I pray you can’t ever get that twice!
Love this post, especially this quote, “We’re refilled with a new measure of grace every morning.” Many blessings to you ❤️
Thanks, Beth. Our God is the best, yes? I’m so thankful that he doesn’t give us everything we need on Day 1 and then leave it up to us to apportion it out correctly the rest of our lives. 🙂
I love this! Especially because my best friend and I will say, “Are you new here?” when one of us (or our husbands) ask a question that we really should already know the answer to. Then we laugh. I even found one of her kids a onesie on it that said, “I’m new here!” All of that to say, I love your perspective and it’s one I’m going to remind my friend about. 🙂 I’m glad to see you linked up at SDG.
Oh, how neat to hear all these connections you have with being the “new one.” 🙂 Thanks for sharing these, Kristin! I love how God weaves things in and out of our lives together.
Oh, I am new every morning. What a blessing and special reminder. I shall recall Ms. Willie more often than you know. I love her and the way you learned to answer her repeated question. And then to glean such a God-given lesson from her. Praising God.
and Caring through Christ, ~ linda
You’re such a sweet soul, Linda. I’d love to hang out with you as you take care of others.
I watched my father fade away into dementia – to the point that he didn’t know who I was. I am now watching my mother’s memory decline. It’s so very painful. And because it’s painful, I find myself trying (too hard) to correct her. I am beginning to learn the grace of just letting it all go, and letting her just be who she is. I am blessed that she still knows me, and grateful for the conversations that we’re still able to have.
So, Lisa, this post really spoke to me. And yes, I am greatly encouraged by the fact that God is shaping me each and every day. Transforming me into something new. Renewing me.
GOD BLESS!
I’m so sorry that you’ve had a double dose of dementia in your life, Sharon. 🙁 That’s very difficult emotionally. I’m glad you’re trying to make the most out of the time you have with your mom. I’m sure it means more to her than you (or she!) can even know now. You’re an angel, Sharon.
All night the wind blew, but this morning there is some calm and bright sunshine, and it is all new.
Yes. That’s it exactly, Beverley. Thank you for leaving this here.
Yes, we are new, every day, thanks be to God! There is a new opportunity to get closer to God, every day. And every day He changes us and makes us more like Him, even if we don’t even notice it.
What a sweet lady and such a sweet thing you do for her, Lisa!
“even if we don’t even notice it” – that brings me comfort, Joanna, because often I don’t notice the change in myself. But God is changing us even when we’re not aware. Blessings to you.
Thank you for lifting that story out of your life and sharing it here. It’s wonderful that you share yourself with those needy folks. Blessed to read your words at Soli Deo Gloria sisterhood.
I really don’t do much, Michele, so don’t give credit to me. I don’t even know who cooks all that food every week! And then other people box it up. Kay and I get the best of the deal–we get to deliver it. 🙂
Thank you for that precious reminder, Lisa dear. Hugs to you.
It’s a good reminder to myself too, Dianna, to not lose patience with Ms. Willie. Of course she has such a sweet spirit that it’s easy to be kind to her. Hugs back to you, friend.
Ah. A big thank you to Ms. Willie for this reminder. I love the way you see, friend. Blessings to you this Holy Week.
Ms. Willie is such a pleasant woman. I got to talk with her some last night and she actually was excited to take some protein drinks that my friend Kay brought her. I thank God for the way he places people in our lives!
What a sweet tender story. Amazing how God speaks through even those whose minds are fading. Good lesson and reminder, Lisa
Yes, it encourages me to think that if I my mind fades one day, God can still use me however he wishes to show Himself to others. Have a blessed Easter, Jean!
God’s mercies are new every morning, and every morning may we embrace the miracle of life renewed.
Ms. Willie is an inspiration, indeed!
Blessings!
This is such an encouraging lesson you gleaned through your visits with Ms. Willie. Such hope in remembering we are new every day, that “we’re refilled with a new measure of grace every morning.” Thank you, Lisa. Love and blessings to you!
I’m visiting your blog for the first time via the “Weekend Traffic Jam” link up and I’m so glad I found you! I love your message and your compassion and gentleness for Ms. Willie echoed in your words! It was a perfect devotion for the day! Thank you!
You are such a bright light in this world, Friend. ???? Yes…new every moment.????
What an example of being new every day and a hidden blessing in a fading memory. Quite the gift! Your giving service certainly leads you into some interesting lessons in life!
Love this, Lisa. I’ve often felt like my younger self was a whole other person in a way. I love how you put it here. You’re so right.
“Every morning we wake up with a fresh supply.”
YES & Amen!!!
Thanks to His boundless LOVE ????
Well, not sure how hands raised in Praise emoji got changed to four question marks!
I think my comment software turns every emoji into question marks! lol.
I appreciate the fact that you no longer try to remind Ms. Willie that you aren’t new and that you were there last week. I have experienced the same thing with both my in-laws and my mom. It is so much less frustrating for them if we just agree to be “new”. I hope to find new mercies this week in how I extend KINDNESS to others.
One, I love how you entered Ms. Willie’s reality. For those who have loved ones with cognitive decline I highly recommend the book “Contented Dementia”.
Two, your use of the word “new” reminds me of, several years ago, when I was beginning to face the fact I was getting older or old. I came across the thought that the opposite of “old” does not necessarily have to be “young” – it can be “new”.
Thank you for your writing.
Aww! This is so sweet. It is so kind that you don’t remind Ms. Willie that you are the new one’s. It’s sometimes kinder to do things like that.
What a lovely post! I’m sure, even though you’re the new ones, you make Ms. Willie’s day a better one. Thank you for the beautiful reminders that we are new every day!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
Lisa,
Thanks so much for posting this….It was something I needed to read as I try to navigate a New Life in the wake of my husband Joe’s passing….I try to embrace each new day and find JOY in it…
Hugs,
Deb
Debbie-Dabble Blog
This is so lovely Lisa. I am sure your visits make Ms Willie’s day more special. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing with #MMBC.