Skip to main content

Back in the Saddle Again...

Today, Ariana and I had the wonderful opportunity of ministering at one of Nampa's nursing homes.  We went as a part of the  NMI convention's work day, and oh what a blessing it was!

This morning began with coffee and cinnamon rolls.  I can't think of a more delicious way to start the day!  During breakfast, we were ministered to by a wonderful missionary from Indonesia who encouraged us that God's light would shine down on those who love Him, no matter where we are in the world.  (At least, that's what I took from it)  After breakfast, we broke up into our different work groups and we began decorating cards for the people at the nursing home.

At around 10:30, we loaded up our cards and planted flowers to deliver to the nursing home.  At first, we were all a bit nervous to enter the rooms and interact with the residents (even though we'd done it before), but room after room, we all loosened up a little bit more.  Ariana was the super-star of this outreach ministry.  For those of you who know my little blonde bombshell, you can imagine this scene in your mind:

When we walked into a room, Ari stole the show.  She would tell the resident, "We are here to tell you about Jesus."  Then, she'd ask them, "Is there something we can pray about for you?"  If they said "yes", then she would say, "Can I pray for you?" and her prayers went something like this, "Dear Jesus, thank you for this beautiful day.  And we just ask that you'd put your healing hand on this man/woman and help them to get all better.  Be with all the people in this nursing home.  And we love you, Jesus.  In your name we pray, Amen." !!!  She sounded so grown up!  And if the resident would say that they didn't want prayer, she'd respond with, "Ok!  Well, do you want me to sing you a song?"  Then, she'd place her little pink purse on the floor, carefully unzip the main pocket and pull out her Dora the Explorer microphone that we had gotten her for Christmas!!!  (I had no idea she had packed it this morning when we left the house!)  Then, she put on her biggest smile and would sing, "Jesus loves you" (instead of me!) or "You are my sunshine".  When she finished, she would hug the resident.  You should have seen the first cranky old guy that refused prayer after her little song-show that she put on!  He wasn't so cranky after that.  :) Jesus' love radiated from my little Ariana today!

I was so impressed with this precious little person that God has given me the privilege of raising!  I knew that God had made a little missionary out of her years ago when at the age of three, she would ask people passing by at the grocery store if they loved Jesus, but I had no idea just how beautiful it would look in only a few short years as she ministered sincerely and openly to the people in the nursing home.  Now, at the grand ol' age of nearly six, Ari is showing signs of deep conviction in her love for Christ and a desire to share it liberally with others.  Ah, my momma heart is so proud today.

But perhaps even more rewarding than watching my sweet little daughter love on these precious people (and I'm not really sure what was better...because watching Ariana was pretty special) was the opportunity of listening to the Holy Spirit as He nudged my heart to minister to people.  At one point during our time at the care center, we were in an activity-like room and our group was talking to some of the friendly old ladies in wheelchairs.  I noticed that there was a man sitting at a table off in the back corner.  I wasn't sure if he was sleeping or just contemplating, but he wasn't showing us any attention and was wearing dark sunglasses (inside).  I wasn't sure if the group had already given him a card earlier, but since no one was talking with him, I assumed that he had been "taken care of" already.  As our little group began to exit the room, the feeling of the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit began to speak to my heart to go and talk with the man.  As the group left the room, I made my way to the man at his table.

As I approached, he didn't look up or acknowledge me.  It had occurred to me earlier, that perhaps he was blind and when I broke the silence and said, "Hello sir!" I realised that my suspicion was probably correct.  When he spoke to me, he didn't look up at me.  His head and eyes remained in the same place, but his voice revealed that he was glad to "see" me.  "Hello there!" was his reply.  I asked him if he'd like a card...it had raised stickers that he could feel the shapes of and a thin, cloth flower that we had stuck to the front.  He thanked me for the card.  I hesitantly asked if he'd like a potted flower.  I wasn't sure if this was something he'd want or even if he would consider it rude since he couldn't see them, but I asked anyway.  He responded by saying, "Oh yes, I'd love them!  I can give them to my girlfriend!"  :)  I told him that the petals were yellow and he responded enthusiastically, "Oh, I just got my girlfriend yellow roses!  They can go with those!" 

Then, he asked if he could feel my hand.  It was his way of "seeing" me.  It was so special!  He just held my hand as I told him of Ella's vision struggles and of how she too has used her hands to "see" at times.  He couldn't believe that such a small girl had gone through so much.  I asked if I could pray with him and he accepted.  It was such a beautiful time of my praying and of him gently holding my hand.  I am sure that I was blessed more than he was by the entire exchange, but I was so reminded of the tremendous blessings that come from being obedient to God's gentle leadings.  And to think that I almost missed that awesome encounter just makes me that much more thankful that I didn't!  It felt so great to be "back in the ministry saddle" again.  I think God created ministry to touch the ministers just as much as the ones being ministered to!

What a great day!  I am so overwhelmed with thanksgiving at what a great church, both local and global, that I belong to!  And what an amazing God and Savior that I serve!!! 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Reason for the Season

Have you ever asked God "why"? For some reason, this year I have become especially curious about how Mary must have reacted when she found out that she'd be giving birth in a barn... with livestock!  Did she ask God, "why"? I don't know what the cultural norm was back then??  Who knows?  Maybe it was typical for a family to bed-down in a stable if the inns were all full?  Maybe women gave birth in stables on a regular basis and it was not a shock to her?  I just don't know.  But I am approaching this post with the idea that it was not in Mary's plan in any way, shape or form to give birth in a barn. I have thought about Christ's birth over and over as we've celebrated Christmas each year and the significance that there is that God chose for His Son to be born in a lowly stable, but never has it dawned on me with such intensity as this year how Mary must've felt about it.  She had just been delivered an amazing message that...

Faith Stretching

Can I start this post off with a *sigh*?  Haaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh... Aaaarrrrrrrgggg... I just got home from a long, extremely brisk walk with my dog, Sam.  And you know how walks usually tend to relieve that pent-up stress and aggravating emotion from the day?  Well, this walk did not do that.  It was a good walk, and Sam was such a good boy, but I've just got the growls!!!  Arrrrrrrrr!  Anyone want a real-life picture of our family?  Anybody tired of always hearing everyone's good news and "facebook perfect" life?  Well, you've come to the right place.  Tonight I've got to get it all out.  And I'm praying that in the "blah" of everything, God will be able to use it to help someone who might just be going through something similar.  I should be bouncing with excitement and absolute joy because tomorrow is our big day.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is the first visit from our case worker for our adoption home study! ...

Congo

Calvin and I want to ask for your prayers.  If you read my post from yesterday, you know that we've been praying about where God wants us to adopt.  One of the locations was Ethiopia, and the other is from D.R. Congo.  For some reason, I felt the Congo on my heart, but after talking with the project coordinator for Congo at Lifeline Adoption Agency a couple weeks ago and finding out that their Congo program was on hold for the time being and then discovering that many other agencies had put their Congo programs on hold, I thought that maybe God had closed that door. Today, after praying more and not feeling released from pursuing the Congo further, I did an internet search for Christian adoption agencies and looked for agencies that had programs to Congo and after making one phone call, I found that this agency (All Blessings International) has an open program to Congo!  And, not only did I get to speak to a program coordinator, but the Executive Director of the ag...