Adopt A Friend

Scripture

“I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink…I was sick and in the nursing home and you did not visit me.”

~Matthew 25:42-23, JEV

Quote

It hurts when you realize you are not as important to someone as you thought you were.

~Pinterest

I can think of a hundred things I had rather do than to visit a nursing home. Let’s face it, most have a very unpleasant odor and they are filled with people who are unable to care for themselves but in these latter days I have developed a burden of sorts for those in the nursing home. One of our precious young ladies at Grace Point wants to so something for people in the nursing home at Easter so she and June are working on some ideas. When June called one of the local nursing homes, she was told they had 215 residents and of this number, more than half never have a visitor. When June shared this info with me, it broke my heart. I’m not going to be dishonest, I don’t pray for everyone everyday but there are some the LORD does not allow me to forget and I have to give Him the credit. I pray for the president, Franklin Graham, Joe David {Pastor}, and six people who are in the nursing home everyday. Occasionally, I might miss doing this on Sunday due to my schedule. I don’t have a reminder to do this on my desk, the LORD just puts these people on my heart. This is a new thing for me: something I’ve never done consistently.

I was visiting a patient in the nursing home a few days ago and he went to sleep in the middle of our conversation. He must have thought I was preaching. I thought he would wake right back up so I just sat there for a brief rest. Twenty minutes later, I got up and started for the door. He raised up and said, “sit back down, don’t go.” That lonely cry for company penetrated the hardness of my heart. I can’t get this lonely cry out of my mind. I can’t fix these folks; I can’t restore them to their health; all I can do is prayer, visit and assure them that they are not forgotten–not by me and more importantly, not by Jesus whom I represent. As I was leaving another patient that same day, I said, “I pray for you every day.” She said, “I’m glad you do.” I said, “You do know what that means don’t you?” She just looked at me as if she did not know how to respond. Then I said, “It means, you are not forgotten.” Her face lit up like a 500 watt bulb. Do you need to know that you are important to someone? They have the same need. Why don’t you make this old sin cursed world a little better by adopting a nursing home friend. You have the ability and you can make the time. Instead of making an excuse for your indifference, why not sit down and make a plan to visit a nursing home. If you want to help with the Grace Point project, talk to June. My goal is to give a care package to all 100 patients who never have a visitor. If you prefer to do your own shopping, text or call June and she will give you a list of things to buy.

Praise the LORD for two beautiful days in a row. It was a little windy but it will be that way throughout March. Good news: they have changed the weather forecast from four inches of rain to one. More good news, it will be 7:00 PM before it gets dark next Sunday night.

I got carried away yesterday and preached for 30 minutes, actually more like 35. They got to laughing at my stories. We called one time out just for laughter. I told them the story about the bull frog named Jack. God is good and we had another great day: I can’t thank and praise Him enough.

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