Laughing So You Don't Cry

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Friday, March 1, 2019

Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?  Job 2:10b(NLT)

Nursing homes are where you can always expect the unexpected.  As a Pastor, you visit residents who are sometimes overdue for a nap.  One such lady was someone my bride and I had never met.  While we visited with our church member, she was at the table next to ours in the dining hall.  After a few moments of conversation with our parishioner, the stranger-lady reached out a long, shaky arm, clamped on Elizabeth’s wrist, looked her deep in the eyes, and demanded:  Get me BREAD!

Another time it was my turn to conduct the worship at a local nursing facility.  The wheelchairs and walkers gathered, some in deep meditation (nap-mode), others fully-engaged.  There were a few who were quite ambulatory, in fact, so very ambulatory I wished they’d just settle down.  One such fellow walked back and forth while we sang five or six old favorite hymns.  We had a prayer, and then I was two minutes and a few seconds into my 4-minute sermon, when the man shuffled past me for the 3^rd time.  He stopped, turned and looked at me; I asked him if he was OK.  He said:  Yeah…hey, man; you got a smoke on’ya? 

You gotta love nursing home visits.

And I really do; especially the visits I had with one of God’s choice servants who had spent the last decade in the nursing home. 

Iris Jones was just short of 83 when she passed last week.  I’ve known her for nearly 7 of those years since I became her pastor.  Her life before the nursing home was church pianist, mother, grandmother, resident prayer-warrior, and evangelist to anyone that moved.  She led her children to Christ and would exude joy for no earth-shattering reason at all!  Her face was always dancing with enthusiasm for just knowing you.

Life in the nursing home didn’t change any of that; all the nurses paid extra attention to this child of God.  She was more than special, even though her most outstanding trait was the humility of always putting others first.  With all her medical complications, she wanted to know how YOU were doing.

The first time I visited with Mrs. Iris was my first home visit to a member after being appointed to Mt Zion church.  When I walked in the room, I said, Mrs. Jones?  She looked up, smiled wider than a Kansas prairie, raised her hands, clapped them together, drew them into her heart and bellowed: 

Oh, I’m soooo glad you came;

I’ve been praying for you;

I hoped you’d come today; who are you?

The norm of nursing homes leans more towards get me BREAD and get me a SMOKE…NOW!  Mrs. Iris Jones defied that norm, and it was always a breath of fresh air for me.

For You Today

Have you been chained to a bed lately?  God will bring you somebody to bless; be ready!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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