(Minghui.org) This year’s May 13th marks the 25th anniversary of World Falun Dafa Day. I’m grateful to compassionate Master for introducing Dafa and saving sentient beings when human morality is corrupt and in decline.
Master, the founder of Dafa, scooped us up from the sea of suffering and let us see the future. He taught us to discern right from wrong, gave us wisdom, and led us toward the light. I’m fortunate and honored to be a particle of Falun Dafa.
I started to practice in April 1995. Throughout the years, I learned to let go of fame and fortune, put others first, and I became a person with good values. Amid the chaotic world, Dafa reshaped me so that I could regain my kind nature.
I’d like to share how I improved my xinxing while taking care of my father-in-law, who was bedridden for five years.
I spent four and a half years taking care of my father-in-law since my husband had to work. He was hospitalized 22 times, mostly during the COVID pandemic. The city was under lockdown for three years, so one can imagine the difficulties we encountered.
If it were not for Master’s guidance, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I was the main caretaker, but my husband and I weren’t after his father’s assets. His brother and sister didn’t care for their father nor did they help with medical expenses. We had a discussion with his siblings and handled the financial issues. They praised practitioners and the story was shared among the relatives.
Caring for My Father-In-Law Exposed My Attachments
My father-in-law was 90 years old when he fell in the shower in November 2017. He couldn’t take care of himself, so my husband asked me to help. I previously told him, “Even if you give me a mountain of gold, I won’t touch your father’s stool and urine. I would not do such dirty job!”
But I had to face reality. I recalled Master wanted us to be good people, so I should follow his teachings and do things according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
When my father-in-law was hospitalized, my husband and I worked separate shifts. I worked the day shift and he worked the night shift. It was inevitable that I had to clean the old man’s feces. I felt nauseous, vomited, and lost my appetite. My attachments to avoiding things I loathe, disliking filth, wanting to complain, seeking reputation, combativeness, showing-off, and jealousy all emerged.
These attachments came from a selfish heart, and I was determined to change my human notions, get rid of selfishness, and put myself in someone else’s shoes. In today’s society when the parents are sick, their children often fight with each other over their assets, and no one wants to care for the parents.
I prepared three nutritious meals each day so that my father-in-law could have a healthy recovery. I shopped for fresh ingredients every day and prepared his food. Feeding him was a challenge, because if he choked and the food particles entered his lungs, he would have a fever later on. Thus I had to feed him liquid food with a gastrointestinal tube.
I cleaned the pots, pans, and juicer after each meal, and gave him water and medicine on time. Fruits were fed between the meals, and they were steamed and then juiced. I had a hectic schedule. When I was ready for bed in the evening, my father-in-law would knock on the headboard, saying he was tired of lying down and wanted to sit up. Shortly after I helped him sit up, he got tired and wanted to to lie down.
He usually urinated three to five times throughout the night. If he took diuretics intravenously, he would urinate eight times that night. Sometimes he woke me up in the middle of the night wanting to empty his bowels. I got up to help, but there was often nothing coming out. I was exhausted getting up multiple times and could barely rest. Yet I had to remain kind and calm.
There are over one hundred relatives on my husband’s side of the family. They saw the changes I went through after practicing Dafa, and many of them agreed to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. When we got together for a relative’s birthday or wedding, they would say “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” when they saw me.
We are so fortunate to be here with Master. I hope more people will get to know Falun Dafa, see through the CCP’s lies, discern right from wrong, renounce the CCP, and choose a bright future.
(Selected submission in celebration of World Falun Dafa Day on Minghui.org)
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