Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Feed My Sheep

And effortless way to bring a smile to nursing home residents' faces is to carry a baby down the hallway. This is my mom with her youngest grandson, Isaac.
I have been working hard to learn the names of the residents at my mother's nursing home without giving very much thought to why I feel inclined to do so. Spending time with these sweet souls isn't a natural tendency. There is an emotion akin to fear that would have me hurry straight to my mother's room, averting my eyes from the elderly patients who are seated in the half dozen overstuffed chairs and recliners that line the foyer. Left to my own, I would protect myself from their sad or hopeful gazes. Instead I've found myself grasping hands, asking names, and striking up little conversations.

And then, a few nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night with the words, "Feed my sheep," in my heart. And the mind picture that accompanied those words was of those elderly faces at the nursing home.

We tend to think of mission work as something that happens far away from home. We also have the idea that God always wants us to spend our efforts where the highest number of people will benefit. It is true that the fields are white with harvest and that the workers are few (John 4:35). But it is also true that we serve a Good Shepherd who cares very much about the needs of even one lost lamb.

We have to be careful that we follow the Lord's call to the field of His choosing. This almost always entails giving up the desire to please our fellow human beings. It's the workers who  build houses for the homeless or dig wells for needy people far away that are invited to speak at church functions; no one presents a slideshow of how they sang hymns with one elderly woman in a rural nursing home on a Saturday afternoon. We need the homebuilders and well diggers, but we also need to be certain that we don't choose more alluring fields of mission than the ones the Lord has assigned us.

I have received more than I have given to these precious folks They are so willing not only to be blessed but also to give a blessing. Yesterday I grasped the hand of a lady who was sitting in the hallway.  She was beautiful with her white hair and bright eyes and I told her so. One of the workers passed by and told me that this lady was 104 years old. I was astounded and turned back to her and said, "My goodness I hope I can do as well as you as I grow older."

She patted my hand, looked into my eyes, and said comfortingly,  "You will, you will." It might be a little silly but my heart received this as a blessing, and I left feeling uplifted.

This isn't the field I would have chosen for myself. I would like to be one of those energetic people who fly across the ocean to meet needs I would have judged to be greater. But this is where God has placed me, and I am blessed.

7 comments:

  1. Love this post. My church has begun a nursing home ministry and I've thought about getting involved. What a blessing you must be to those you speak with and touch.

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  2. I appreciate your heart in this. When my m-i-l was in assisted living and then a nursing home, too often I would just go to her room with barely a smile and a hello at the others, though occasionally I did have some conversations that were a blessing. I wish I had thought of it more as a mission field. I'm trying to remember that the hospice workers who come in now are here not just to minister to her but to for me to be a blessing to as well. Too often I just wish they'd get done and go so I can go back to what I was doing. :-/

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    1. Well, this is just me, trying to come to grips with the pathos of being in a nursing home almost daily. When mom's condition worsens I doubt I will be quite so aware of these others. But I do feel their needs in a way that I think must be the Holy Spirit nudging me to express His great compassion for them. Sometimes, Barbara, when we are on "overwhelm," there isn't much emotional energy left to deal with extra heartache. Perhaps you have reached that stage. I am saying a prayer for you now.

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  3. I have been in those Nursing homes. My Mom and my dads sister and my dad. My Mom had Alzheimer's I looked after her at home but then she had to go into this home. Was too much for all siblings. And dad his condition was he was a grumpy old man. He argued too much with care givers for him. Both of then together. It is a sad place and one has to be the light in that building if one can on some days. It is hard. It was hard for me to go into the dining room at lunch time and see those dear adults that were once young and spry. As I looked at them. Like little babies with dribbles down there face and some with bibs. Slurping soup. Have you been in at lunch time.Very touching. I at one time worked in a nursing home. Bathe them, took them in wheel chairs. They have to get up early but they do go to bed early. Now I live in a senior home with hubby and I see myself starting to have hard time to walk. I go to a apt and have tea with a lady who is really not healthy and less mobile then I. She loves to have my neighbor and I drop in. And she loves that hug and kiss. It makes her day. I appreciate your heart. I never thought I would be doing all I have told you. If one is a Christian. We some how have to do our best And ask the Lord to lead us. Even if we are failing ourselves. As the Lord is with us and he will never leave us. The alpha and the Omega. What would we do without him. One day we all will lose that energetic in us.That young vibrant youth. I am glad I have seen inside the doors to know what is a head of me one day. And pray that someone will be as kind as I have tried to be to others .

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    1. Yes, Carolann, it is such a blessing that we will never ever have to do without Him! Hugs and prayers to you, thank you for this moving comment.

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  4. Reading the replies here, I just wanted to add something more. So often the elderly are neglected emotionally in a facility. It is not always the neglect of staff because they often are understaffed and overworked. Most of my 30 years of nursing involved geriatric patients and they have always been close to my heart. I balked for the longest time in getting involved in a nursing home ministry because I felt I would continue to look at it as a clinical experience. I'd be more concerned about their physical condition than their heart. Just years and years of nurse-thinking, I guess. I applaud you all who are and have cared for aged parents. I am also in that mix right now so I understand how emotionally and physically demanding it can be. The physical demands I can handle. It is the emotional ones that can get to me. I love the heart of those who have written here and I gain so much strength and insight from those of you who blog about this sort of thing.

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    1. I would think those who minister to those sweet souls would get burnout fairly quickly. Today we were at a sing-along and one lady sobbed as the musicians played "You Are My Sunshine." It was heart-rending. I prayed hard for her and felt exhausted when I returned home. I can't imagine caring for the typical 12 hour shift. But oh how they bless my heart when I do make a connection with them...thanks, Melanie

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