On my last post I told you about a 103 year old lady (Mrs. Victoria) that Hannah and I were taking care of. We were seeing her daily (even over the weekend) checking on her, cleaning and treating her wound etc. I would pray with her although she did not know I was there most of the time. Her family asked us to eat lunch with them Sunday. We had a nice time getting to know them more. They were so gracious, seating us at the table while the waited on us, and only eating after we were finished.
After lunch I went in to Mrs. Victoria's room to check on her. She had stopped eating several days prior, and by the way she looked to me, I felt she was very close to death. We discuss this with the family, and I told them I would be very surprised if she lived through the night. After a while longer, we left to go take care of another lady with a wound that lived near-by (who happened to be related to Mrs. Victoria), and when we arrived at her home in less than 5 minutes, we had a message waiting for us to come back quickly. So we cleaned and changed her dressing and returned to Mrs. Victoria's home where were told that they thought she had died. After confirming that indeed she had, we spent some more time with them talking and offering what little help we could, at least that is what I thought.
This afternoon I went to her funeral that was held at her family's home. Strangely, Mrs. Victoria and I share the same birth date. She was obviously a very special woman. I hate that I did not meet her when she was well and vibrant, but I am grateful to have known her none the less, regardless of the circumstances. So many people came to show their respects and celebrate her life. As a part of the service, they thanked us for being there when she died. They said it helped them so much. I was so touched by this sentiment.
You see, I thought I was helping Mrs. Victoria by trying to "heal" her wounds and illness (which in a way we were), but God had a different kind of "help" and healing in mind. We did not do anything special or spectacular, and most of what we did, does not require special training or skills. It was not our knowledge and expertise that impacted this wonderful family. What we did that had the most impact was show love, compassion and care in a real and practical way. These are things that we can all do everyday to show the awesome powerful love of Jesus.
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2 comments:
James
Very touching story! Im glad you were there to help prepare them and pray with them. Lately God has shown me that just being there and showing concern & love is all someone needs, to help them. I used to be ALL about doing this or that, now instead I am learning that LOVE as you mentioned is what really impacts! Thanks for sharing!!
A lady that is our cell group now has a saying that she says that I love it is
Its not having the ability but being able that can help the most!!
Tell Lily Happy Bday!!
James
I just had to get on here and talk to you! I was thinking about you today. I went with The Maccellons to the Lancasters. Nots sure if you ever went but BOY was it a Blessing! I was SO convicted and realized that I have SOOO much more transforming to do instead of conforming to this world and its ideas. Its all about serving & praising God and that alone can make me think of you guys but then they played God in this City...OH MY TEARS began to fall because I remembered what you had posted a while back about it. I saw this the leaders there, their hearts how passionate they were about changes in Jackson. I was truely Blessed. I had such a different idea of how it would look there and the safety...boy was I wrong! It was beautiful and I never felt unsafe.
I am SO glad I didnt decide to stay home and take a nap beacause I would have missed what God was trying to get me to see and understand.
God is Good!
I love you guys and have yaw in my prayers daily!!!
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