Ed passed away yesterday. Oh, you don’t know Ed. I can’t even say that I really knew Ed. But still, I feel a sadness at his parting.
Ed is someone I would visit on Sunday afternoons when he missed the weekly services I hold at a home. The home is for memory care residents, so it’s probably safe to say that Ed didn’t know me either. But each week there was a comfort level that was growing, despite not knowing who I was. And he knew it was Sunday when I showed up. He always smiled and was ever so polite.
I can tell you that Ed liked car races. He was very hard of hearing…this I base on the volume of his television and the voice I needed to use to talk to him. And Ed loved his sweets. I knew he’d accepted me when he starting offering to share some of the chocolate stars that always sat next to him in his recliner. This last Sunday he even offered me cookies his daughter had brought him. I politely declined, but he wanted me to get one for him. Of course I did, despite the fact that he was within minutes of going to eat.
That was my last encounter with Ed last Sunday. He passed on Wednesday. I’ll miss him. It never ceases to amaze me the impact we have on each other’s lives, though the encounters may be brief.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Get Up and Walk
I know a woman who sustained a very serious brain injury from a car accident that she never should have survived. And though it’s been years, and though the doctors said she’d never walk again, she was determined that God would hear her plea. And that’s exactly what she showed me Sunday!
I stopped in to visit her after my Sunday afternoon service, and she welcomed me into her room. She then shared that the day before she’d felt this urging inside, and she pointed to her stomach area. You know what I mean…we’ve all felt it at some point. That deep, in the pit of your stomach, feeling. Then she told me that she got up and walked. I was happy for her, but she wasn’t satisfied until she could show me.
Let me tell you, I was nervous with her getting up a little tottery, and beginning to walk. I assured her she didn’t need to show me, and I didn’t want her to fall, especially when I was the only one in the room. But she would hear nothing of it and continued to walk across her room and back. There was a little stiffness in her walk, but it was an amazing walk for someone who’d been in a wheelchair for the past few of years.
I’d prayed with her about her physical limitations and her faith over the past few months that I’ve gotten to know her. But I never believed she’d walk. In my mind she was in denial of the facts. Thank goodness God didn’t need MY faith for His work! I told her she was a New Testament miracle. She was one of those that Christ said, “take up your bed and walk” people. She was certainly one of the “your faith has made you whole” people.
And let me tell you about her faith. Despite all the trials she’s faced, she believed. And she shouts the glory of God to everyone who’ll hear. And even during her times of depression, she was easily calmed by the reminders of God’s love for her. We would pray and she would be recharged. I know that her testimony was the reason God healed her. My prayer joins hers in that her husband may come to the Lord finally. And woe to the staff at the home she resides at…all they are hearing about is how God healed her. And if I thought I was nervous when she got up in front of me, I understand that the staff followed her with the wheelchair when she walked all the way from her room to lunch that day!
Lord, forgive me for my lack of faith. Thank You for hearing the pleas of one of Your children. And thank You for allowing me to witness such a miracle! Now take the glory that is so aptly due You, and use this to bring even more people into Your kingdom! Continue to bless this precious woman and reward her faith.
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