Revive Us Again

Hosea 10:12         Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness

            Someone accompanied me for every trip – a friend or family member.  I had someone for verification for my reports, for mental and spiritual support, and for reviving on the way home.

            We took note on the way to our destination of places that could provide calming influence.  Some of our stops were scenic waterfalls, craft shops, bridges, small museums, and our most frequent repeat shop – a little country meat market.  Nancy (the manager) was the reason for the repeat stops.  At first it was because she was a calm and gentle spirit who sympathized when I told her we’d been caregiving a difficult mom, and would be passing that way frequently.

I shared many ‘you won’t believe what happened’ moments with Nancy week after week and month after month -always on Monday. I’d particularly chosen Monday because the nursing home had a non-denominational devotional and singing time that Mom loved, and also a favorite cousin was sometimes available to join us for lunch on Mondays. Six years prior, when I’d first started caring for my Mom, I’d passed a new little store off the highway, and stopped in to check it out. I’d met Nancy and we became friends, bonded, oddly enough by cancer. Her husband and our grandson had the same type and so we compared notes and promised to pray for one another. I assumed Nancy was a believer because she’d referred to prayer, and I brought her books about heaven to read to her husband, which she said he’d found greatly comforting and led him to an assurance he was reading about his destination.

But that week, I had an urging to go on Wednesday. I called the nursing home staff who confirmed nothing special was occurring on Wednesday, but still the inner voice kept on. My friend, Marge, regularly came with me and I called her to see what she thought.

When I explained that all week a subliminal urging to go Wednesday had me wondering why, her response was a gracious form of “Duh!”  God was obviously trying to get through to me, So let’s just go Wednesday and see what happens. Unless there were special appointments or concerns, we usually tried to make a visiting trip in one day – four hours there, visit, have lunch with Mom, do her errands, and head home, so that was our plan. As usual I prayed about what I should bring, and spotted a book I had just reviewed – Simple Faith by Eddie Snipes. It was an excellent Bible-driven primer for new believers about doctrine. Part of reviewing for me is praying – for the message and purpose of the book to be accomplished, and for the person who will receive and read it to understand that message. I’d just ordered a half dozen for the church office, so why not take this one along. I tossed it in my Michigan bag with other supplies I might need.

The visit was uneventful, and Mom actually slept a majority of the time we were there. It was evident she was beginning to slip away. She groggily begged the aides to dress her and help her sit up, but she promptly fell asleep after all that effort. In her waking moments we talked and prayed briefly, and left at our usual time.

Well, I said to Marge I’m not sure what go Wednesday was about, and we headed home.

When we saw the mileage sign to a little town halfway home, Marge asked if we were going to stop there to see Nancy.

Every trip didn’t end at Nancy’s shop, dependent on my mom’s appointments, how late we left, if we got that far before the shop closed, and of course sometimes we’d stop on Nancy’s day off. Even though visits were irregular, we had grown close, and I looked forward to stopping and catching up on one another’s lives.

This night we pulled into the lot and saw a new sign on the door. Hours changed – closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Marge and I exchanged glances – good thing we didn’t come on Monday, she said, shrugging her shoulders.

I opened the door to the shop and got a huge surprise. Nancy rushed toward me from across the shop; her arms open wide, “You came! You came!”

Wrapped in her arms, I rejoiced in her happiness, and wondered aloud, “You were expecting me? But I usually come on Monday.”

“I know,” she said, “but I prayed and told God I really wish Delores could come today. I have so many questions, and I just knew you would have a book to give me.” A book? The one in the car? What was this about?

Nancy eagerly explained what had happened. Since her husband and my grandson both passed away, she’d been reading our David’s testimony every night for a month. “Last night,” she concluded, “I got it!”

Got it? “Got what, Nancy?”

I felt my eyes grow wider and saw Marge’s were doing the same as Nancy explained that she’d always considered herself ‘religious’ and hadn’t really understood her husband’s deepening faith as he read the material on heaven. She struggled to understand the Bible he’d encouraged her to read. This past week, she was reading David’s testimony again and asked God to help her understand, and as she said, “got it.” Suddenly the Bible was like a new book to her, she couldn’t get enough of it.

After jumping up and down and rejoicing awhile, I asked Nancy about her comment that I’d probably bring her a book. Well, she explained, she was having difficulty understanding some of the “big concepts” in the Bible, listing several basic doctrines as examples, and figured I might have a book that could help her understand what she was reading. It was an exact description of the book I’d felt led to bring along.

Her new and simple faith surprised us both when I told her I had the perfect book in the car, and she simply smiled and said, “I figured that would happen.”

She closed up the shop and we had a wonderful time answering her questions, explaining scripture, and encouraging her. A double round of hugs, and we had to leave. Marge and I were, heading out the driveway, sharing snippets back and forth that all began with wasn’t it amazing…when I put on the brakes and looked at Marge.  Together we said it:

Go Wednesday!