While preachers do enjoy spending time with people, ask any one and he’ll tell you that it’s his love of people that compels him to go to the hospitals and 
But its also in the midst of these places that we gain perspective: How should a life be lived?
It was on a Sunday afternoon that I got a call. A lady who long ago had been a member at the congregation I was preaching at wanted me to come and visit with her at the nursing home she was in. She had gotten to the point at which she knew she didn’t have much time left. It’s at times like those that people seek comfort from wherever they can find it; often the preacher bears this responsibility.
I prepared myself to go and speak with this woman. When I arrived, I noticed that she was sharing a room with someone else. The dividing curtain was pulled, and my appointment was on the side nearest the door, so out of respect to the other patient’s privacy I didn’t cross beyond the barrier that the curtain created. As I was preparing to leave, and just as I finished praying with the lady I had come to visit, I heard a small, sweet voice from just on the other side of the curtain say, “Can I say Amen to that, too?”
The lady on the other side of the curtain had been listening to us the entire time.
Since a lady from our congregation had come along with me on the visit, I decided to venture over to the far side of the room while she was saying her goodbyes. I cautiously peeked around the edge of the curtain, afraid of what I might find on the other side.
The lady on the other side welcomed me in with a cheery smile. I immediately took stock of my surroundings. I noticed that she had pictures all over the place: framed and hanging on the walls. This was a sign she’d been there for some time. I looked at the table directly in front of her. On it was a large-print King James Version Bible, and strangely, a cup full of dill pickle slices. I noticed that her legs were pointing straight out toward the wall, with her feet being turned in toward each other. I could tell she hadn’t ventured out of the bed by her own power in ages.
It’s then that my eyes ran across a small chair sitting next to the bed. Stuffed into the side of it was a paperback novel, worn from being read. We exchanged pleasantries and then she began to teach me.
I found out that she had been in the nursing home for two years, and that she hadn’t walked for nearly eight. That explains the pictures actually hanging on the walls. This place was her home now. She then tells me that she has been married for sixty-four years. That’s quite an accomplishment in and of itself. The next few things she said will probably stick with me forever.
She proceeded to tell me that her husband sat in that chair. He stayed by her all the time. He had an apartment close by where he would sleep, but he would come back and spend the day with her. Since today was Monday, it was his “Wal-Mart” day. That’s why the chair was empty at the moment.
“I think I saw him drive up a minute ago,” she said, gazing out the window. She had obviously been looking eagerly for his return.“He’ll be here in just a minute!” She seemed almost giddy because of his impending return. Her face then becomes very serious.
“We didn’t take those vows lightly,” she firmly stated, patting the Bible in front of her. “When we said ‘for better or for worse, till death do us part’, we meant it!” Then, despite the frailty of her own situation, she whispers to me, pointing toward the curtain, “I hope that she gets some help soon!” Oh, the lessons to be learned from this woman.
It was at this point that I sincerely hoped that this man was coming back. You never know the true mental state of those who are in places like nursing homes. I hoped (if for nothing else but the beauty of this story) that he really did exist. I was relieved when Mr. James walked through the door.
I think I scared the poor little man.
“So you must be Mr. James,” I said, extending a hand toward him. He seemed a little surprised, but he smiled back and said, “Well, yes I am!”
With Wal-Mart bag in hand, he focused his attention directly on getting back to his wife, his love. As they saw each other again, it was as though they’d been apart for ages; it had only been minutes.
What does it take to have commitment like that? Why do so many marriages today fail? What is the element that we are missing in our relationships?
Loyalty. Commitment. Faithfulness.
Nicholas Sparks could never write a novel as beautiful as the true story of the commitment of Mr. and Mrs. James.
But the fruit of the Spirit is… faithfulness… against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV
~Daniel Howell
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