“I am the Light of the world;
he who
follows Me will not walk in the
darkness,
but will have the Light of life.”
–Jesus, John 8:12
OK. So. Remember yesterday? & the
whole breaking camp thing?
Last night, I, along with several of
my coworkers drove to one of our local nursing facilities to listen to a woman
share her life story. Here is the version CentraCare put out in their Spring
Spotlight on Health magazine:
“Until two-and-a-half years ago, 79-year-old
Elaine Davis, a retired nurse, enjoyed a fulfilling life. She felt blessed to
have a close family, wonderful friends, a part-time job at a yarn shop and
plenty of interests to occupy her time: reading, knitting and watching the
Minnesota Twins.
Startled one day by a bloody discharge, she
soon received a diagnosis of stage four ovarian cancer. Elaine had five major
surgeries within nine days, but little could be done to stem the progress of
her advanced cancer. Expecting to die within a week or 10 days, Elaine
transferred to a hospice room, where, amazingly, her condition stabilized.
Before she became ill, Elaine had been a
popular speaker for Christian women’s clubs and women’s retreats. After she settled
in, some women from her church asked if she still would be their retreat
speaker. Though Elaine knew she never again would move from her bed without the
help of a hydraulic lift, her friends knew that she still had plenty of wisdom
to impart so they came to her. Staff cheerfully accommodated the group by
bringing extra chairs into her room, and 10 women gathered to hear her talk on
how to have peace and joy in difficult circumstances. Word spread, and from her
bed she has now spoken to 15 groups. “Never have I had so many opportunities to
share my faith,” Elaine said.
“Elaine is a deeply inspiring person and has
added meaning and hope to both patients and staff during the journey with her
illness,” said Jeffrey Carlson, DO. “She has a deep sense of faith and conveys
her positive sense of wellbeing on all those who come in contact with her. Her
work with others despite a very serious illness demonstrates how this can be
done with both grace and dignity.”
Her positive attitude and radiant demeanor
make Elaine a valued confidante for staff members, who often visit her after
their shifts are over. She teaches them how to knit and has one-on-one Bible studies
with her newfound friends.
On Sunday afternoons during baseball season,
Elaine flips on the Twins and picks up a ball of yarn to knit mittens for needy
school children. For now she is content. Counting her stitches. Counting her
blessings.” (a)
Here is what the article doesn’t say… & why I have to
share with you how much this precious woman spoke to my heart yesterday.
As we entered the nursing facility, I wasn’t sure what to
expect. But upon crossing over the
threshold into Elaine’s room, you could feel it. The warmth of the Holy Spirit.
Her small yet comfortable room was filled with flowers & delicately carved birds &
many beautifully framed photos of family & friends. The big bright windows
looked out over the facilities garden & there perched expectantly on the
bed in the middle of the room, was a lively little lady with dazzling red hair & a
smile that immediately lightened your soul. She welcomed us with breathless anticipation, as if we were the most precious ladies in all the wide world.
As we settled into our chairs to listen to her story, I was
stunned by how healthy she looked. She didn’t appear to be a woman who was
dying… & as she began to share with us, I realized that I had it all wrong. Elaine
is a woman who is truly living.
She didn’t gloss over how difficult it is to be confined to
a bed or to have people care for her every need. And while she has every
reason to question God, to be frustrated about her situation, she spoke instead
of trusting God’s plan for her life even now & of learning to have contentment
& peace & joy in her circumstances. She looks at her position as one of
mission & she is using each moment God has given her to share Him with
anyone & everyone that comes into contact with her. In sharing with a group of ladies she’d never
met, I loved that she didn’t water down the message. Instead, she spoke the
Gospel of Jesus in a way that was gentle & powerful.
I can’t begin to express to you everything I felt during our
time together. I laughed. I cried. I passed tissues to the gal next to me.
In the car on the way to dinner afterwards, my coworkers
& I talked about how Elaine’s beautiful spirit is contagious. How who we are
as people & who we draw our strength from impacts those around us. How resting
in ‘Him’ give us the peace to quit striving & be content in all things.
So… remember yesterday? Remember how I mentioned how we can all
be the Gospel to those we come into contact with? Elaine is doing it in a surprising
way & in surprising circumstances. She’s doing it from a tiny room in a bed
she’s bound to. Her life. Her story. Is the Gospel wrapped up in a pretty blue
nightgown...
AHHHHMAZING…
“If we were left to ourselves with the task of taking the
gospel to the world, we would immediately begin planning innovative strategies
and plotting elaborate schemes.
We would organize conventions, develop
programs, and create foundations…
But Jesus is so different from us.
With the
task of taking the gospel to the world, he wandered through the streets and
byways…All He wanted was a few men who would think as He did, love as He did,
see as He did, teach as He did and serve as He did.
All He needed was to
revolutionize the hearts of a few, and they would impact the world.”
-David Platt, Radical: Taking
Back Your Faith from the American Dream
(a)
Taken in part from ‘Count her stitches, counting her blessings’ By Sharon Sheppard, award-winning freelance writer from St. Cloud. You
can read the article in full at: http://www.centracare.com/app/files/public/1966/Spotlight-on-Health-Spring-2014.pdf It is on page 4.
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