So you can imagine what a treat it was when I met, Cecilia, an 87 year old woman. As I got her medications ready to give to her, she shared she had just celebrated her 14th wedding anniversary and her husband was healing at a nursing home with a fractured bone just like her. She must have seen me counting in my head as she said 14 years of marriage. Before I could ask her the story, a river of words flowed from her mouth. “We’ve known each other since we were four years old,” she said. My eyes lit up because she now had my undivided attention. I said, “Oh this is going to be good.” She went on, “When we graduated high school, he asked me to marry him. But I said, ‘no.’” She explained that he went on to go into the service and when he returned, he asked to marry her again. This time, she said yes. “But there was a problem,” she said. He wanted her to go and live with his mom. She laughed when she told me. I smiled trying to imagine living with my mother in law (whom I love dearly). “So I said no again,” she said. “And I moved to Hollywood!” Now this story was getting better and better as she spoke. “Then, we both got married to other people…” Years passed by, and both of their spouses passed away. “It was a sad time for both of us. But then he found me, sent me a card, and the rest is history.” She giggled like a woman in love as she remembered her love story. I knew she wanted to tell me. I could see she enjoyed it. I loved every minute of it, too. She shared her wedding details. Both of their mothers were in the same nursing home. They really wanted them to be at the wedding but they were unable to travel. “So they said we could have it at the convalescent center. We had a full house! All the people that were in the convalescent home showed up and all of our friends came too!”
Wow, what a beautiful story, I thought. Then she looked at me and tears welled up in
her eyes, “Yes, he really is something special.” It stopped me in my tracks. I saw the love she had for this man she had
known since she was four years old. After
all these years, she still loved him and he was still special to her.
Days went by and I still smiled when I thought of what Cecilia shared with me. Just a couple days later, I was feeling down in the dumps. Have you ever felt like that? I just felt sad, stressed, depressed and all I wanted to do was stay home from work. I was praying that they didn’t need me at work so I could just stay home and feel sorry for myself. God had other plans, of course. So I got up and went to work. When I was in the car with my husband, I shared with him how I was feeling. He said, “You know, you can ask Jesus to fill you with joy and He will. You just have to ask.” I had no idea how this would change the course of my day. On my way into work, I said a short prayer to the Lord and asked for His joy. Immediately He answered and I found myself praising God all day at work. I even found myself thanking God for my awesome husband. I said, “Yes, Lord, he really is something special.” I smiled as I walked around in the joy of the Lord. My prayer for that day was that I would not focus on myself, but I would focus on God’s call on my life and that I would be about His business and all that He wanted me to accomplish in His name.
I took care of a woman that day that had
gotten into trouble with the law. She tried
jumping off of a fence and she fell and broke her leg and her arm. When this happened, she said she was crying
out to God because she couldn’t get up and the law enforcement was dragging her
in the dirt. My heart went out to her. Then she said, “I get frustrated sometimes
because I realize I can’t accomplish what I want in my life by myself. I should be able to do this by myself without
God, right?” Mark 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. I love this scripture. Jesus sees his need and He loves him. This is what I felt for her. I loved her.
I shared with her that God is not looking for people who can do it by
themselves. He is looking for those who
are completely humble and know they can’t do anything outside of Him. It’s then and only then that He sets us free
and saves us. She said quietly at her
bed, “I’d like that.” So she sat up in
her bed and I prayed with her as she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
What a remarkable Jesus we have. As I walked away from this divine appointment,
I saw the Lord do a total 180. What I
beautiful end to a day I wasn’t even wanting to start! I went from being depressed and sad to being
used by God in the way that He has called me to be used. And this woman went
from being dead to being ALIVE FOREVERMORE!
He did it all and I see that my Jesus really is something special!
**All names have been changed to protect identity
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