HELEN
A 90-year-old lady named Helen used to come to the meetings, but unlike everyone else who situated themselves in the rows facing the front, she always sat very close to the door. We liked Helen. She was spunky...but more on that in a minute.
For some reason, Ken and Helen hit it off famously. Every week on the way home, he would fill me in on the latest news. He learned that Helen had been married and very rich. She and her husband lived on Catalina Island off the coast of California. When he died, Helen remarried, this time to a man much younger than she. He squandered her money and left her penniless. Now she spent her days in the least desirable of nursing homes, a residence that took in folk with no money.
Nevertheless, Helen had lived the posh life and still viewed herself as rich and important, attempting to selfishly order the staff around, banging anything she could find against her metal bed if the nurses did not come running when her light went on, and keeping to herself most of the time.
She really liked the meetings...even from her little perch right inside the door. The music appealed to her. I'm not sure she knew any of the old hymns in our large print songbooks, but still, every week, faithfully, she attended the meetings.
After each meeting, Ken and I spent another 45 minutes to an hour moving about the room, visiting, talking to people about Christ, listening to people's troubles. Ken would always spend a little time with Helen. He really felt drawn to her!
One Sunday, Ken determined to press Helen on the issue of making a decision about trusting Christ as her Savior. He made his way over to her, praying that the people on either side of her would move away so that he could talk openly with her. Both of them just sort of disappeared into the crowd.
He pulled up a chair in front of her and began to chat with her, going over the same subjects as always--her health, her past--just stuff. Slowly, he turned the conversation to spiritual things, laying out the plan of salvation clearly. She listened intently. When he was done, Helen said to him, "What would God want with a 90-year-old woman like me?"
Ken replied, "Helen, God has been knocking at the door of your heart for 90 years just waiting for you to open!"
That day, Helen prayed the sinner's prayer and placed her faith in Jesus Christ! Ken was elated...as was I.
What a blessing to watch what happened in the days following. The nurses were truly amazed and touched by the change in Helen. Now she was a model patient, easy to get along with! We could see the difference, too. She was extremely more pleasant.
One day, Ken went to visit her in her room where she was bedridden and slowly going downhill physically. Ken asked her some questions just to sort of "take her temperature." She was so happy to see him. She called him "Pastor" and told him that every day, she sat on the edge of her bed and talked to Jesus.
I have a photo of Ken leaning over her bed and talking to her. What a wonderful thing to lead someone to Christ, especially when they are 90 years old!
Make a free website with Yola