I had a chat with a beautifully-hearted lady the other day about why she was selling her home. She was close to 60 years old, never married, never had children and believed in God through the Greek Orthodox church. She believed in the goodness of people - the goodness of friends and family, the goodness of her employer and the goodness of people. But her poor heart had been completely taken advantage of by the people she loved and trusted.
She was the oldest child of two. Her father supported her and her brother always, however it was her brother who 'needed' his support more than she. He had 'bright ideas' when it came to business, always asking dad for a handout when he couldn't get the money from the bank. Her dad worked hard to set up a life for her and her brother, so whatever they asked, they essentially got. While they were growing up, their parents had accumulated a few investment properties so that her and her brother would have a solid future. Year after year went by, and her Dad sold his investments to 'invest' in his son's businesses, which just so happened to fall down each and every time. Her brother asked her to help him out too, and as the kind-hearted sister she is, she did the same, however she never asked for a cent from her Dad.
After her father died, her mum got sick, and as a nurse, she was the primary carer for her mother... for 15 years. For all the handwork and dedication she put into her mother and all the money that her father had invested in her brother, her mother signed her Will to say that she would be the sole beneficiary of the last family property in which she and her mother lived. Her mother died two years ago, the Will stood, and she was able to keep the home. But her brother kept asking for monetary handouts, and slowly but surely, she had re-mortgage the house to help her brother. Now her repayments, on a house that has been in the family for 48 years, costs her $4000 a month. Her brother and his wife and daughter have moved in with her, as they have no where to go, and she has no equity left in the house to start over once it's sold.
She prays every day to get herself out of thing financial mess and for God to help her brother find something he will be successful in, but her prayers don't get answered. She is left working in an aged-care facility to pay the bills to survive, while her brother doesn't think anything of it. How can one sibling be so selfish to their own blood, especially when the other sibling has been so self-sacrificing for their mistakes? I just don't get how someone can be so heartless.
I told her she needs to find herself a beautiful, caring man who can look after her and give her happiness, but she is so worn down by it all, she thinks she's too old to start again. She speaks 3 languages, in her time has spent many weeks in Europe, including living in Italy for a year, but she sees no value in her skills and experience. She is quite worldly, yet considers Melbourne home. She has no idea where she will go, she has no idea how much rent will cost her, but she's come to the point that she's no longer going to help her brother... once the house is sold, she is convinced they have nothing to hold them together anymore. All love is lost.
My heart goes out to her... it really does. No one, who is as loving and thoughtful deserves to go through what she has gone through, and for someone who has a Christian heart yet receives no grace and mercy for what she's done, it really does make you question the strength in Christianity, because God definitely has shown her no path to go on, nor plan to move forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment