Learning to Be a Friend

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!

If You feel far from God – Guess who moved?

This week at Life Care was an interesting experience and a perfect example of why we must expect, the unexpected. Today we were looking around wondering where half of our faithful friends were as the meeting began. Then we discovered, halfway through, as they briskly wheeled several of them back, that they had been with the podiatrist getting their toenails clipped! That made me laugh, but it also made me realize that all the planning in the world, can’t foresee everything, and sometimes we just need to go with the flow! I do hope you like our rendition of “Just a Closer Walk”. This song reminds me of the question my stepmom used to ask anyone who would listen. “If you feel far from God, guess who moved?” Of course the answer is that God is right where He has been all along.

 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
Luke 15:23-24 NKJV

The blessing is that when we come to Him (or come back to Him), God is willing to receive us and accept us into His family. In the story of the prodigal son, the first thing the father did was to have them kill the fatted calf. That calf was a special animal which was reserved for a celebration. That calf going to the barbeque grill irritated the older brother because of the expense, but it cost God far more than a calf for us to come to Him. It cost Him the life of His only Son. Thank God that the blood of Jesus That is certainly a prayer which God loves to answer!

Behind the Scenes at Nursing home

Some folks probably wonder what in the world we do, week after week at the nursing home. Normally I try sharing a video of our singing, but this week I decided to give you a behind the scenes tour of our meeting. It is touching, informative, uplifting and yes, we even talk a little football! So pull up a chair, get yourself a nice cup of tea or coffee and join us on this exclusive peek at what joy God gives us as we spend precious moments together, lifting up the name of Jesus. Below the video is this week’s newsletter, which we distribute for free at about 12 homes in Florida, New York and Ohio. If you would be interested to receive these or to share them in your community, I would be delighted to connect with you and give you more information. Have a blessed weekend everyone!