An Answer to Prayer

I am so blessed on Wednesday afternoons! I get to go to the local nursing home/rehab center and “preach” to the wonderful residents there. They are so wonderful with their hugs, their smiles, and kind words for me. Now, I have to admit it wasn’t always that way for me. Three years ago, I found out that I was going to have to serve in my local community as a part of a class obligation in first year of seminary. I had no idea turn of where to serve and I finally stole the idea of serving at a nursing home from another one of the students in my class. Besides, it was only for one semester and then I could quit and spend more time studying for school and serving my church.
I went into the activity room at the rehab center for the very first time not knowing what to expect. I “preached” to about 15 people that day and thought it went okay. As the residents filed out of the activity room after I was done, one of the ladies gave me a big hug and told me that I was exactly who they had been praying for. I asked the activity director what the resident was referring to. She told me that she had not been able to get a pastor to come out to “preach” to the residents. Yes, several churches in the area sent people out to the center, but it was for bible studies and sing-a-longs, not for preaching. The residents wanted a preacher/pastor to come and share God’s word with them. I was shocked! Surely, there had to be at least one pastor in the area who could spare an hour or so to share with the residents of a local rehab center.
I came back the following week and was blessed again by the responses of the residents who attended. I was once again reminded by the same lady that I was exactly who they had prayed for. Well, to make a long story short, I soon found out that I began to look forward to my weekly appointment with these wonderful people and when the end of semester came, I had fallen in love with them. I decided to do it for one more semester and then quit.
At least that’s what I thought… Now three years later, I’m still going to my weekly appointments with the residents and always looking forward to it. No matter how bad a mood I can be in when I get there, it all changes when I enter the activity room. The anticipation of their hugs, their smiles, and their kind words would melt any type of discord I may have felt within me. Yes, there are some there who may not be able to stay awake during my “sermon” and there are some who aren’t able to communicate clearly for some physical reason. But I have learned that none of that matters to me because each of these people have chosen to spend 45 minutes to an hour with me each week sacrificing other things like naps and other activities just to come here me share God’s word with them.
I want to close by sharing my favorite event during my time there. One particular afternoon, my throat was very dry and very scratchy. I struggled to speak and finally wished aloud for a drink of water. Shortly, one of the residents, Miss Ethel left the room in her wheelchair. This was not out of the norm because some of the residents do get bored and sometimes have to leave to take care of boredom or other things. About 15 minutes later, Miss Ethel re-entered the activity room and rolled herself to the front of the room where I was standing. She stopped in front of me and handed me an ice cold bottle of water.
I didn’t know what to say. You see, Miss Ethel had rolled her wheelchair all the way back to her room but not in the conventional way you and I would use a wheel chair. Miss Ethel, along with man of the other residents roll their wheelchairs by shuffling their feet back and forth which uses a great deal of effort and energy. Miss Ethel rolled about 250 yards down to her room to get some of her own money and then rolled herself back to the vending machine outside of the activity room to buy me a bottle of water.
This is just one of the many examples of how these wonderful people have blessed me and my ministry. I pray that any of you who may read this post are serving your community in some form or fashion. You never know how much it may mean to those you are serving and the blessing you will received in return. Besides, you just may be an answer to a prayer…