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!
