As a hospice nurse, you meet all types of people. When I was in a long term care facility (aka nursing home) caring for a patient who had Alzheimers, I saw God! No not literally, I'm not schizophrenic. I saw his mighty w
The One that DIDN'T Get Away!
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As I was caring for a patient in a nursing home who suffered from
Alzheimers, I had the opportunity to see God at work in a wonderful way!!!!
My patient, who we will call Annie, was a
ninety something year old lady who could no longer walk or care for herself due to severe Rheumatoid arthritis. Her knuckles on her hands
and feet were so deformed, she had absolutely no function in them. She had bouts of clarity, as all Alzheimers patients do, but mostly she
was dillusional and spoke to people who were not there. She also had conversations with herself that would make the hair stand up on the
back of your neck. She had a sincere smile, on the very rare occasions that she did smile, but most of the time she was angry and in a world
all to herself.
On more than one occasion, I would walk in Annie's room and she would be talking to herself, asking
questions and then answering them as if she were two different people. She'd say, "Momma, please don't make me go in the barn with
him, I don't like him." Then she would answer, " But you do what your momma tells you. He won't hurt you."
"But momma" she would say, "I don't want him to kill me." You never knew, because of her disease
process, if she was reliving something that took place when she was a child, or if she was just making up things in her mind, either way, I
always got cold chills. She would never look at you. Her piercing dark eyes would literally look through you as if you did not exist. Just
thinking about her now makes me shiver inside.
One day, as I was sitting in a chair beside her attempting to feed her
lunch, I began singing softly. I sing all the time, and feel as if there is a jukebox playing inside my head. The more I sang around Annie,
the less agitated she became. She was no longer cursing and hitting me. She seemed to be paying attention and even trying to look at me,
instead of through me. I was singing an old gospel song, I can't remember which, I love them all! But she actually took a bite of food. This
was something I had not seen her do in several months. I sang just a little louder, and she took another bite. I continued singing and soon,
a tear rolled down her cheek. I slid ever so close to Annie, knowing at any second she could take her withered hand a knock the fool out of
me. I got down close to Annie's ear and asked her if she knew Jesus. Annie looked me dead in the eyes and said "No!"
"Do you want to know Jesus?" I asked. "Yes!" was her simple reply. "Annie all you have to do is
repeat after me. Jesus, I love you. I trust you. Please come into my heart." I cannot explain the fear I felt. Fear of being
struck, fear of someone overhearing me and reporting me as a Bible Freak, fear of the absolute uncertainty of her ability to understand what
was taking place. But I knew one thing, this ninety something year old lady only had a limited number of days to live, and I may actually be
her last hope at salvation. In this moment of clarity, I honestly did not know what to expect Annie to say or do.
Her response was this, "Jesus, I love you. I trust you. Please come into my heart!" No clearer
words had this woman ever spoken. I began to cry. I continued feeding Annie until every bite of pureed food was gone from her tray. I told
her, "That's it Annie. That was all you had to do. Jesus is yours now!" Annie soon fell asleep as I sang to her. I left
the nursing home to care for my other patients.
Annie died about a week later, I never got to see her after
that day, but I know in my heart and my soul that I will see her again. I know that whatever happened to this woman as a little girl, God
had erased it all with just one simple sentence! I know I saw God that day!
