Hi Everyone. I'm not sure if this post belongs here, but I had to ask for a listening ear and some mature, Godly advice.
My mother has had a couple strokes a year ago, has since fallen and broken her leg, won't eat much more than a couple hundred calories a day and is, in my opinion, wasting away. My father is standing by her wishes and no matter how many times I've pleaded with him to please intervene and take my mother to the hospital or call 911, he adamantly stands by her wishes and gets angry with me for trying to push him (or my mother) to get help.
My mother weighs no more than 80 pounds and is wasting away. It's truly only by the Lord's grace that she is still here. I have confronted my father with this so many times because the Lord has urged me in prayer to urge my father to do something to intervene
Here is where it gets tricky. I called the Department of the Aging on Thanksgiving and they told me that if my father makes NO attempt to call 911 or get her to an emergency room, if she dies while in my father's care, he will be charged with "caregiver neglect". Out of urgency, I wrote my father and informed him of this and told him I'm desperate. I felt the Lord telling me to be a "watchman on the wall" and warn my father that if he makes no attempt to get my mother help, even if it's her wishes NOT to receive help, he will be arrested for neglect. He became angry with me and told me to stop threatening him and that my mother would be taken out of the house against her will and "over his dead body"
Now, this is tearing me apart. My father raised me in the Lord. What is happening? I told him my call to the Dept. of Aging was an anonymous call, however, I did give them my mother's first initial and her last name and I told them what town/city they live in. Perhaps they will investigate the situation?
My father has been asking his children for months now to give him prescription medications for my mother because he won't take her to a doctor himself nor go on behalf of my mother to obtain necessary meds. I refused, telling him that it's illegal to do so. Well, my father started buying meds from overseas pharmacies and the DEA just sent him a letter stating that if he orders 1 more package of meds, they will arrest him.
I just can't believe this is the man who raised me, taught me to live for the Lord, etc. I have tried to speak what the Lord has given me to speak, I have urged him with scripture, and appealed to him by warning him that even if my mother refuses treatment, he will be arrested for caregiver neglect if he makes no attempt to help her. It's like watching someone slowly commit suicide while you sit by and watch! My mother does NOT have a living will stating she doesn't want medical care either.
Please, can someone who is intimately walking with the Lord please pray for me and give me some advice in the Lord? Should I let them make their decision as a couple or call again for help from the authorities? My father told me angrily that I am arrogantly assuming that I know what is best for he and my mother. I know Jesus is in control and I trust Him, but I cannot bear this alone. My siblings agree with my decision to confront my father over this and even make an anonymous call, but they won't come out verbally with me to stand against this.
Thank you for your time and for any advice in the Lord you can offer me. My instinct is to call for help against their will and risk my father disowning me and it could tear our family apart. But I know that if the Lord does not soften my father's heart to get her help and if my mother still refuses care, she will most likely pass away. Where do we draw the line in letting them make a choice and yet intervening because it's life and death?
My mother has had a couple strokes a year ago, has since fallen and broken her leg, won't eat much more than a couple hundred calories a day and is, in my opinion, wasting away. My father is standing by her wishes and no matter how many times I've pleaded with him to please intervene and take my mother to the hospital or call 911, he adamantly stands by her wishes and gets angry with me for trying to push him (or my mother) to get help.
My mother weighs no more than 80 pounds and is wasting away. It's truly only by the Lord's grace that she is still here. I have confronted my father with this so many times because the Lord has urged me in prayer to urge my father to do something to intervene
Here is where it gets tricky. I called the Department of the Aging on Thanksgiving and they told me that if my father makes NO attempt to call 911 or get her to an emergency room, if she dies while in my father's care, he will be charged with "caregiver neglect". Out of urgency, I wrote my father and informed him of this and told him I'm desperate. I felt the Lord telling me to be a "watchman on the wall" and warn my father that if he makes no attempt to get my mother help, even if it's her wishes NOT to receive help, he will be arrested for neglect. He became angry with me and told me to stop threatening him and that my mother would be taken out of the house against her will and "over his dead body"
Now, this is tearing me apart. My father raised me in the Lord. What is happening? I told him my call to the Dept. of Aging was an anonymous call, however, I did give them my mother's first initial and her last name and I told them what town/city they live in. Perhaps they will investigate the situation?
My father has been asking his children for months now to give him prescription medications for my mother because he won't take her to a doctor himself nor go on behalf of my mother to obtain necessary meds. I refused, telling him that it's illegal to do so. Well, my father started buying meds from overseas pharmacies and the DEA just sent him a letter stating that if he orders 1 more package of meds, they will arrest him.
I just can't believe this is the man who raised me, taught me to live for the Lord, etc. I have tried to speak what the Lord has given me to speak, I have urged him with scripture, and appealed to him by warning him that even if my mother refuses treatment, he will be arrested for caregiver neglect if he makes no attempt to help her. It's like watching someone slowly commit suicide while you sit by and watch! My mother does NOT have a living will stating she doesn't want medical care either.
Please, can someone who is intimately walking with the Lord please pray for me and give me some advice in the Lord? Should I let them make their decision as a couple or call again for help from the authorities? My father told me angrily that I am arrogantly assuming that I know what is best for he and my mother. I know Jesus is in control and I trust Him, but I cannot bear this alone. My siblings agree with my decision to confront my father over this and even make an anonymous call, but they won't come out verbally with me to stand against this.
Thank you for your time and for any advice in the Lord you can offer me. My instinct is to call for help against their will and risk my father disowning me and it could tear our family apart. But I know that if the Lord does not soften my father's heart to get her help and if my mother still refuses care, she will most likely pass away. Where do we draw the line in letting them make a choice and yet intervening because it's life and death?