A Promise Kept

Today I read A Promise Kept, the remarkable true story of Robertson McQuilkin's journey as a husband and caregiver. He left his high-profile job (he served for 22 years as the president of Columbia Bible College and Seminary) and withdrew from public ministry in order to stay home and care for his wife, Muriel, who had Alzheimer's disease.

 

McQuilkin describes one particularly compelling incident that occurred during his caregiving years:

 

      Once our flight was delayed in Atlanta and we had to wait a couple of hours. Now that's a challenge. Every few minutes, the same questions, the same answers about what we're doing here, when are we going home? And every few minutes we'd take a fast-paced walk down the terminal in earnest search of - what? Muriel had always been a speed walker. I had to jog to keep up with her!

      An attractive women executive type sat across from us, working diligently at her computer. Once, when we returned from an excursion, she said something, without looking up from her papers. Since no one else was nearby I assumed she had spoken to me or at least mumbled in protest of our constant activity.

      "Pardon?" I asked.

      "Oh," she said, "I was just asking myself, 'Will I ever find a man to love me like that?'"

 

Robertson McQuilkin kept his promise to Muriel: to love her for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. He cared for her for over twenty-five years until she passed away on September 20, 2003. His extraordinary testimony of faith has inspired millions of people to love their spouses extravagantly, kindly, selflessly, and compassionately. I pray that I would be able to do the same for my amazing husband.

 

Kindness is so important in any caregiving relationship, whether we are providing for a spouse, a parent, a child, or another loved one. In the book of Proverbs, King Solomon exhorts us:

 

      Do not let kindness and truth leave you;

      Bind them around your neck,

      Write them on the tablet of your heart. (Proverbs 3:3) 

 

What do you think of McQuilkin's decision and his sacrifice? Please post a comment here.