friends

Learning to Be a Friend

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17 NKJV

Most of you who follow this blog, know that I have been involved with nursing home ministry for many years. But I will bet that almost no one realizes that it all began with a visit to my friend Darryl, over thirty years ago. Now, I wasn’t really a very good friend for a long time. In fact, if it were not for the persistent and loving prodding of Darryl’s wife, I am not sure I would have finally come. You see, Darryl had suffered a stroke and went to live in a nursing home, that I passed every day on the way to work. My excuses were, I was tired, I was dirty and I didn’t know what they expected me to do. Yup, those are pretty lame excuses and neither God, nor Beverly was taking “No!” for an answer! If God is calling you to do anything, you better believe he is a lot more persistent than you are. As in the old Cosby rendition of Noah and the ark, God sometimes comes to us with the question, “How long can you tread water?” When I finally gave in and surrendered to what God had in mind, I made the amazing discovery, that it is a lot easier (And sometimes even fun!) to do what God asks, than making excuses. No disrespect to Sinatra, but I learned by doing things my way for too long, that God’s way, was way better! I hope you will enjoy my little story and that it will encourage you, to trust Jesus to teach you how to serve by becoming a true friend. After all, Jesus really is the friend who loves at all times!

Walking With Lambs is Finished!

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments

I am deliriously happy to announce that our book project for the nursing home ministry is finally finished! After six months of writing and almost another six of editing and rewriting, the eBook edition is now live on Amazon! I am so excited. The book of Proverbs tells us that:

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 NKJV

Hope deferred has been exactly my experience, since I began this project last summer. I was hoping to have the book done by Christmas. But that hope was deferred time and time again, but I am humbly grateful that here in August we are finally done! Yay!! One thing I have learned is that this project has been a team effort – and working as a team, needed far more time and patience than I had originally scheduled. My wife did some of the first edits, followed by my good friend Rob Keller who also designed the cover. After I trudged through their corrections, it was nearly Thanksgiving, and I handed the manuscript over to Sue Hyson for a more detailed edit. The final edit and formatting of the manuscript was done by our daughter-in-law’s brother, Winston Crutchfield who not only edited but also fixed my formatting mistakes and improved the older photos as much as possible. These people have selflessly given of their time for one reason – and that is to tell you the story of our many friends in long-term care. Though it is my hope that “Walking With Lambs” will prompt more people to take action in practical ways, I believe you can also just enjoy getting to know some of the wonderful stories of friends whom I have made over thirty-five years in nursing home ministry. Their stories have taught me more about life than everything I learned in college and Bible school combined! If you would like to check out the eBook version, the link is here

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9K2BHKD

The print edition should be out next week for those of you like me, who like to hold their books in their hands.

Good-bye Doug

/ pastorpete51 / 16 Comments

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17 NKJV

When the news came last week that Doug had been in a bad accident on the farm, I wondered if this might be his last. The week that he survived gave us all some time, not only to pray for him and his family but to remember this simple man’s kindness, loyalty to his friends and willingness to help. Doug didn’t read much. Besides repair manuals, the only books I think he ever read were the Boy Scout manual and the Bible. All his life, Doug had struggled with learning. His slight speech impediment also made it difficult for those who were not friends to understand all he said. But at 6 AM on Sunday mornings when the church furnace didn’t come on, Doug got the call. When someone’s car broke down and they couldn’t afford to take it to the garage, he fixed it at his house. Over the thirty plus years we knew him, Doug had rewired two of our homes, and replaced most of the plumbing in one. Doug also helped take care of the farm I managed. When the pipes leaked, the irrigation wouldn’t come on or the fields needed mowing, Doug was there.

But age wasn’t kind with our friend and after a few accidents falling asleep at the wheel, heart surgery and a fire that took out his big garage, Doug was hurting. But just as always, he assured me that he could cut the fields one more year, once he got the old tractor running again and bought 100 gallons of diesel at the crazy high prices of 2022. Then came the phone call that Doug was in intensive care, with nine broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Throughout the last week we all prayed that God would work a miracle and bring him back one more time. But it was not to be. Jesus had made other arrangements for our friend. He had a schedule to keep with the almighty and a home prepared by grace that would never need the furnace serviced. There would be fields to walk through, but never mowed. There is fresh living water that doesn’t run through pipes that freeze up in winter and a place prepared at a table.

No, my friend wasn’t perfect, but he had put His faith in a Savior who was. Despite his failings, he kept hoping to get his kids pointed back in the right direction or help out any neighbor he could. I can hardly believe I can’t call him up today or send him a thank you note for whatever work he had done lately at the farm. Goodbye Doug. May the Lord watch over us both until we meet in that city where there will be no more night, neither tears nor suffering. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for letting us have such a wonderful faithful gentle friend who will be sorely missed.