Long Time Coming

Monday through Sunday's latest post reminded me of a similar situation. There was a lady in our church for years who prayed for her lost husband for 35 years or so. Every pastor we had went to visit him, each thinking he would be the one to get to lead R. to the Lord. No. No. No. On and on. He and his wife went fishing at a mountain lake and a pastor from another town sat and fished and visited with R. that whole day. When R. was in a hospital in that town, that pastor went to see him. The minute Pastor G. walked into the room, R. looked up at him and said, "Pastor, I need to get saved." After all those years and all those pastors, Pastor G. had the blessing of being the one. You see, he made friends with R. that day, and instead of just coming to the house as his wife's pastor, he came as a friend.

He never wanted his wife to watch Billy Graham or any other Christian program before, but after he got saved, they watched those programs together. When he went into renal failure and decided to stop dialysis, he talked about the Lord all the time. What a wonderful memory that is for all of us who knew that couple. They are together again, praise the Lord.

Lightbulb in the Brain

I think I know what the problem is, in regards to the previous post. I started going to that unit because of a certain special wonderful lady who loved to sing the old hymns. I played them and we sang. She passed away and eventually it became a ball tossing time, which led to different music. I need to go back to the original plan, whether those who work there agree or not. I have no problem with the activities director or the administrator, both being Christians. I now believe the reason things are not going well is because I lost my intent. It may be that I won't go back there. I go four Sundays a month to nursing home church services, once a week to do a Bible study at a nursing home, once a week to play the preaching tape at another home, and that one, where I compromised. Yes, I do get burned out. So do the other people who have been going for almost as many years to the Sunday afternoon services. But God hasn't given us permission to quit yet. Perhaps if I go back to the hymns, things will go better. I really appreciate all the insight from my blogging friends (and family).

Cop-Out or Not?

I stopped one of my volunteer jobs today, at least for July. I didn't want to exactly because I always feel so guilty and selfish. This particular job was going to an Alzheimer's unit and spending an hour with the residents. Originally I went to play music and toss a ball with them. Some of them got past that and are unable to do that anymore. So I started doing more 1:1 things with them. Walking, visiting, looking at magazines, etc. Some of them are very aware whether an activity is childlike and patronizing. For the past several months I have felt frustrated every time I walked out. I couldn't actually put my finger on what was wrong, but knew I felt no pleasure or assurance that I was doing what I should have been doing. The staff seemed mostly indifferent to me, sometimes moving the residents into another room just before I got there, instead of leaving them together in the dining room. They played "relaxing music" all day long so music was not a treat for them. They didn't seem to want me to stimulate the residents because they might get out of hand. Sometimes they would turn my music down or turn it off. Well, I am quite experienced at working with dementia victims and I know how to stimulate them and then bring them back to a state of relaxation. Sometimes staff conversations went on while I was trying to read a story or do an activity with the residents, disregarding my attempts to give the staff a little bit of a break. I think I mainly felt I was intruding and disrupting their routines. I will still visit but not at an appointed time as before. Perhaps I can reconcile myself to a better plan. Boy, is this a wa wa thing or not? Just pretend I'm crying on your shoulder, my friends.

The Bible in 50 Words

Found this in "Bits of Sonshine", published by the SONShine Society. It was submitted by David Pikel.

The Bible in 50 Words

God made
Adam bit
Noah arked
Abraham split
Joseph ruled
Jacob fooled
Bush talked
Moses balked
Pharoah plagued
People walked
Sea divided
Tablets guided
Promise landed
Saul freaked
David peeked
Prophets warned
Jesus born
God walked
Love talked
Anger crucified
Hope died
Love rose
Spirit flamed
Word spread
God remained.

A Squirrel Angel or Two

I had a squirrel angel once. Some years ago, three close family members died within three months. Two years later, two family members died following an explosion, I had a major illness, and a niece died. I can't really recall when this angel appeared, I think after the first bad year. Anyway, I worked at a doctor's office as a transcriber. My office had a window looking out onto the rooftop of our building. One day I was as far down in the dumps as I could go and still function. My care bucket was empty. I almost couldn't climb the stairs that day. But a little squirrel suddenly appeared on that roof, standing with his arms folded in front of him, looking at me through the window. I just knew it was sent by God. The little guy lifted my spirits so quickly, it was almost unbelievable. Then others came. I looked forward every day to seeing my squirrel angels. It sounds dumb to say this, but I think they saved me from a deep depression. I fed them every day and they entertained me.

The roof had to be replaced and they used a metal roofing. The squirrels couldn't access my window anymore, but I had come past the worst time and my care bucket had refilled.

I still get a little teary when I think about how precious those squirrels were to me.

OOPS

Well, I found out that the blog I recommended doesn't allow comments from anyone other than the team members. But go look at the pictures and watch the videos anyway.

Interesting Blog

I was just clicking through blogs for fun, you know, hoping to find something in English. I came across a beautiful blog about a young woman travelling with an African children's choir. It seems they visit mostly churches. There are wonderful pictures and some videos of the kids singing. The sad thing is, however, there are no comments, at the most one, on any given post. Check it out. It's teresemonnette.blogspot.com.

Good thing or bad thing?

What do you think it would be like if television had never been invented? Would it be a good thing or a bad thing? What if we suddenly didn't have television available any more? Would it be a good thing or a bad thing? What do you think about this?

God's Timing

Several years ago, a co-worker asked me to go visit her mother-in-law at a nearby nursing home. She told me that Mom hadn't been very responsive for about three weeks and didn't recognize the family. Mind you, she was afraid that Mom would die without the Lord. Well, okay, I said. Please note that she didn't ask her pastor to do it. We prayed about it all day and we stopped by on the way home. We went to the room and I looked inside. Mrs. G. was lying on her bed. I knocked and said, "Mrs. G.?" This woman who had been unresponsive for weeks looked up at me and said, "Yes?" I asked her if I could come in and visit with her. She agreed and sat up on the edge of the bed. I introduced myself and told her that I worked with her daughter-in-law. I told her that S. wanted me to talk to her about Jesus and was that okay. She agreed. Then I did something I usually don't do right off the bat. I asked her, "Mrs. G, if you died today would you go to heaven?" Her answer, "No." I proceeded to ask if I could show her what the Bible said about the way to heaven and she agreed. I asked her if she believed the Bible was God's word, and she said yes. I asked her she believed Jesus Christ had died for her sins and she said yes. I showed her Scriptures and she said she understood and she prayed. Meanwhile S. is standing in the doorway with tears clear to her knees. S. came into the room and we chatted a bit.

Now, let me explain this a little better. I did nothing more than the usuall approach. God certainly cleared her mind that day. She, for that short time, was totally lucid and knew exactly what she was doing. That was one of the most astounding evidences of how God works on the heart of someone He knows will get saved, regardless of the circumstances. I am so thankful that God allowed me to be a part of that. I have some more similar stories concerning mentally ill people, Alzheimers, developmentally disabled people, where God cleared the minds so they could understand.

Mrs. G. died three weeks later.

Feelings of Humbleness

Thanks to everyone for the comments about my kind deeds. I shared those basically to show how God often puts me into a situation like that, because He knows I'll do whatever I can to help. But after receiving so much praise about being kind, and feeling so good about it, I reread the blogs and now I have to wonder if my motive was to expound on my wonderfulness. I often feel that way at the mental health facility I visit... am I doing this because God wants me to or am I doing it because they like me and it makes me feel happy? I know that God won't put you in a ministry that you hate! My heartfelt apologies if anyone thought I was being boastful. I truly didn't mean to be. Thanks again and God bless.

Outrageous behavior

I have been on the border between disbelief and rage since seeing that video caught on a security cam) on the news about the elderly man being run over by a car. The crowd just gathers and cars keep going by but no one goes to the man to offer any help. A policeman answering a different call comes by and stops and takes care of the situation. People actually walked out into the street to within a few feet of the man and just gawked and walked away. I read that there were a couple of calls made to 911 but the policeman was there before any others could get there. I know there was probably little anyone could do but someone could have comforted the poor guy. He is in critical condition with paralysis from the neck down, I believe. Why in the world didn't somebody at least direct traffic? Arrggghhhhhh!

Okay, I'm better now. What would you have done?

THE WHEELCHAIR AND THE MANHOLE COVER

One of my nursing instructors was a lady I much admired. She was such a dignified lady. Her husband was crude and kind of a jerk, even though he was a professional. He had been in a nursing home for several months at this time. One day I turned a corner and there they were, Mrs. L. desperately trying to move Mr. L.'s wheelchair out of the middle of the street. She had taken him for an outing down the street near the nursing home. The wheels of the chair were caught in a manhole cover and she was not strong enough to get it free. About the time I parked and got to them, the street sweeper truck came along. The driver parked that huge machine and came running to help. Meanwhile Mr. L. had slid down in his chair to a point where he was almost out of it. The driver got him under the arms and I got his knees and we tried to pull him back into the chair (Mr. L. was a fairly small man). It didn't work because Mr. L. stiffened his back and legs. I said, "George, bend your butt!" He did, and we did the job. After receiving many thanks, the driver left. Mr. L. took my hand and said to me, "You are my angel!" I liked him better for some reason after that. Mrs. L., ever the lady, thanked me every time she saw me after that. I enjoy helping people anyway, but the timing then was perfect. Other cars passed them by, she said. How pitiful is that?

Five Kind Things Meme

The Five Kind Things Meme works like this:

List five kind things you do for yourself.
List five kind things you do for your closest friend, partner or child.
List five kind things you have done for a stranger.
List five kind things you do for fun.
List five people you are tagging with this meme.

Five kind things I do for myself.
1. Blog
2. Read
3. Go to writing group
4. Go to church
5. Do nursing home ministry

Five kind things I do for closest friend, partner or child.
1. Pick up my friend for church.
2. Do not insist hubby go everywhere I want to go.
3. Cook a meal occasionally
4. Put lotion on his back
5. Love and respect my children

Five kind things I have done for a stranger
1. Helped a lady with diarrhea from wheelchair onto potty in Wal-Mart.
2. Rescued a little girl, who had injured her knee, by having her playmate get her own mom so we could take the girl to her home in my car. (you know, the fear of being accused of something).
3. Helped a little boy who had fallen off his bike and was pushing his bike home. I had him go on a little ways to a convenience store (couldn't put him in my car either), bought him a bottle of water and some Bandaids, cleansed his knee and bandaged it. He then was cured by the Bandaid and the water and I watched him push his bike home. Cute Cute
4. Saved a man with the Heimlich maneuver, in a nursing home. It works.
5. With the help of the street cleaner driver, rescued a man whose wheelchair was stuck on a manhole cover on a busy street. Now that is a story.

Five kind things I do for fun.
1. Do a Bible study at a mental health facility.
2. Spend an hour with Alzheimers' victims.
3. Play church sermon tape at nursing home.
4. Listen to western music, you know, tumbling tumbleweed type of music
5. Read


I don't know anyone to tag that hasn't already been tagged. Lots of fun, though.

My Version of THE TRIP

Some thoughts about our trip to Missouri with our daughter K. and her kidlets.
1. Overcast skies.
2. Burros and baby burros. Cute!
3. Baby alpacas.
4. Dead turtles.
5. Dead armadillos.
6. Daughter saw a live one.
7. Car trouble.
8. Wonderful son-in-law who knows how to do a tune-up.
9. Horrific allergy flares, with swollen, bloody-looking eyeballs.
10. Watched smallest grandson do a pretty good job with a BB gun.
11. Watched 15 year old granddaughter who is a sharp shooter to be.
12. Saw what a small boy can do with a pocket knife.
13. In Wal-Mart I helped a lady with amputated leg get out of her wheelchair and onto toilet quickly because she had the diarrhea. We made it! She loves me.
14. Left my pillow at motel. Drats!
15. Vomit goes a long way.
16. Enjoyed seeing my two daughters be such good friends.
16. My grandchildren can have fun without fighting. All of them.
17. Birds are noisy.
18. Don't like hot muggy weather.